How is Intellectual Disability diagnosed?
The AAIDD process for diagnosing and classifying a person as having mental retardation contains three steps and describes the system of supports a person needs to overcome limits in adaptive skills. The first step in diagnosis is to have a qualified person give one or more standardized intelligence tests and a standardized adaptive skills test, on an individual basis. The second step is to describe the person’s strengths and weaknesses across four dimensions. The four dimensions are: 1. Intellectual and adaptive behavior skills 2. Psychological/emotional considerations 3. Physical/health/etiological considerations 4. Environmental considerations Strengths and weaknesses may be determined by formal testing, observations, interviewing key people in the individual’s life, interviewing the individual, interacting with the person in his or her daily life or a combination of these approaches. The third step requires an interdisciplinary team to determine needed supports across the four dimen
