More than "taking longer to learn": the experience of intellectual disability

We often describe intellectual disability in terms of the things a person has difficulty with, or cannot do at all, but it is more difficult to see it from their point of view.  Fiona Place has recently published a new reflection on what intellectual disability means for an individual person's day to day life,  and for the people who care for him or her.

.... Yes, children with an intellectual disability do take longer to learn things, however typically their disability also involves ‘more’ than just ‘taking longer’ than other children to master new skills.

Describing the ‘more’, fleshing out the ‘more’ is surprisingly difficult, even when you are the parent of a child with an intellectual disability. Why? Because the ‘more’ will differ person to person as well as change as s/he passes through each life stage. The ‘more’ is fluid, day-to-day, year-to-year.

Furthermore, a person’s disability is only a small part of who they are - and in the same way each of us differ from one another so too do people with intellectual disabilities.

The ‘more’ affects everything.

A child’s family life, schooling and participation in the community.

The significance and effects of the ‘more’ are not widely understood. Given intellectual disability is only a fleeting issue/concern for many in the community this is not surprising.

However, there are women for whom the words ‘intellectual disability’ are more concrete. More concerning. These include women who are informed during their pregnancy their foetus has a chromosomal disorder, women who give birth to a newborn showing signs of ‘difference,’ or women who are told further down the parenting track their child has an intellectual delay.

And it is for these women and the larger community around them I would like to share my perspective of the ‘more’.

 You can read on the entire piece on Fiona's website, Down Syndrome - a Family Perspective, here.