intellectual disability
a developmental disability characterized by mild to profound limitations in cognitive function (e.g., learning, problem solving, reasoning, planning) and in adaptive behavior, impairing one’s ability to acquire skills typical for one’s age group as a child or necessary for one’s later independent functioning as an adult. It is now the preferred term for mental retardation. In DSM–5, a diagnosis of intellectual disability, including its degree of severity, requires clinical assessment of an individual’s level of difficulty with conceptual skills (e.g., reading, writing, arithmetic), social skills (e.g., communication, emotion regulation), and practical skills (e.g., self-care, ability to manage activities of daily living). Deficits in cognitive function may be assessed with standardized intelligence tests, but an individual’s IQ as measured by such tests is less emphasized in the diagnostic
criteria for intellectual disability than in the traditional criteria for mental retardation. Also called intellectual developmental disorder.