Mental Retardation

Mental retardation (MR) refers to severe deficiencies in actual functioning. This begins before the age of 18 and is characterized by a substantially underperforming mental functioning that occurs in two or more of the following relevant functional areas such as communication, self-care, home living, social skills, community use, self-direction, health and safety, functional academics, leisure, work. It is assumed that intellectual disability affects around 1 per cent of the population. 85 per cent of those affected have a mild intellectual disability. This means learning new knowledge or skills are only a little slower than normal. Most would be able to live as adults independently, with the right help.