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4.5: Characteristics of Students with Intellectual Disabilities

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    Students with intellectual disabilities experience academic challenges resulting from their deficits in intellectual functioning and adaptive behavior. Students may experience academic challenges related to attention, memory, generalization, and language.

    Attention characteristics

    Generally, students with intellectual disabilities find attending to tasks challenging. However, attending skills may be improved through early intervention and instruction that use real-life tasks and materials (e.g., coins) that are relevant to the student. Real-life tasks improve all students’ motivation to attend but are especially helpful for students with intellectual disabilities.

    Academic characteristics

    Students with intellectual disabilities tend to have below grade-level reading, writing, and math skills. However, academic skills can be improved, and students with mild intellectual disabilities benefit from academically inclusive settings.

    Memory characteristics

    Students with intellectual disabilities often perform poorly on working memory tasks compared with their peers without intellectual disabilities (Henry & MacLean, 2002). Working memory holds information for short periods and is used for reasoning and decision-making.

    Generalization characteristics

    Students with intellectual disabilities experience challenges when attempting to repeat a learned behavior or skill in a new situation. For example, a student may learn how to use a calculator to solve simple mathematics equations effectively in the classroom but may struggle to apply this skill in other settings, such as creating a budget and shopping for groceries. This means that students will need instruction on how to apply skills in different situations and settings.

    Language characteristics

    Students with intellectual disabilities may experience a delay in their language development. For example, students with intellectual disabilities may experience delays in learning vocabulary or engaging in conversation. Working memory deficits may contribute to experiencing a delay in language development such that students may not remember the order of events or may omit information they do not remember. Speech disorders are also common among students with intellectual disabilities, including deficits in articulation and fluency.

    Adaptive behavior characteristics

    Students with intellectual disabilities may experience challenges in developing adaptive behaviors. Adaptive behaviors include conceptual, social, and practical skills (DSM-5-TR, 2022, p. 42). Students may experience deficits in acquiring new skills or struggle with performing a learned skill in a new environment (e.g., expressing empathy with a new friend). Educators and clinicians should focus on students’ strengths and abilities rather than just their limitations. Students with intellectual disabilities can live and work in their communities with appropriate support (Smiley et al., 2022).

    Henry, L.A., & MacLean, M. (2002). Working memory performance in children with and without intellectual disabilities. American Journal on Mental Retardation, 107(6), 421–432.

    American Psychiatric Association. (2022). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed. Text Revision). https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425596

    Smiley, L. R., Richards, S.B., & Taylor, R. (2022). Exceptional students: Preparing teachers for the 21st century (4th ed.). McGraw Hill.

    This page titled 4.5: Characteristics of Students with Intellectual Disabilities is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Diana Zaleski (Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries in Illinois (CARLI)) .