Mental Retardation-“A Political Standpoint”

Mental retardation is also known as intellectual disability. Mental retardation is defined as a lack of intellectual capacities as it relates to the intellectual development and functionality of the normal individual. Mental retardation, often call MR, is a term that is not popular in today’s society. The term intellectual disability is defined as a mental disorder that affects the mental growth and function. Intellectual disability is also a disorder that increases the limitation on intellectual functions and adaptive ability.
There have been numerous court cases on the subject of MR and the establishment of those individuals, their human rights, and social security. For example, there have been a few vaguely important cases that focused on the subject of mental health precedent and its implications. One of the most impactful Supreme Court cases on this subject is Jackson vs. Indiana. Jackson verses Indiana ruled that in the situation of a mentally ill individual who committed a criminal act, this case ruled that “mentally ill criminal defendants who are incompetent to stand trial cannot be indefinitely committed on that basis alone”. This means that a mentally individual who is facing criminal charges will not be forced to stand trial because that individual is not mentally stable enough to understand what they are facing. That individual cannot be tried on the basis of such circumstances.
There are several definitions have a required to define the mental state of an individual. An adaptive behavior assessment is a special comprehensive assessment that measured on a basis of living skills. Adaptive behavior assessment is an important instrument in the assessment of the consideration for individuals with intellectual disabilities.
Examples of adaptive behaviors are the skills one needs to function in everyday life and society. For example the skills needed to survive and the skills needed to independently function at home, school, and in the community. To name a few the necessary skills to name a few shopping, budgeting, following directions, cleaning, eating, dressing, grooming, interacting and communicating with others, reading, telling time, and etcetera.
My definition of adaptive behavior would be the ability to handle everyday activities without assistance. It is critical to assess behavior that suggest that an individual who brings about question of whether they can function independently in terms of mental disability. This is important because if an individual is not capable of the necessary skills that is required in the survival of an individual in everyday life.
The ABS, Adaptive Behavior Skill Assessment, is very affective in the test that has been critical in the suggestion of a mental disability in an individual. The assessment of mental retardation deals with the testing of the individual is usually placed in a setting of a classroom, play area, etcetera. This is a very good testing tool because this allows the persons doing the assessment to evaluate the individual and see if they have the basic skills that are required to function as a normal person.
There are many characteristics or individual with mental retardation that affect the ability of these individual adapt in school, work, and everyday life. These characteristics also one of the main reasons that ABS assessment is critical, reason being because it is important to separate individuals with mental retardation, so that they are treated equally. Mentally retarded individual are usually not able to remember things well, lean at a slow rate, short attention span, and are not usually motivated.
In conclusion, Mental Retardation is defined as a lack of intellectual capacities as it relates to the intellectual development and functionality of the normal individual. The term intellectual disability is defined as a mental disorder that affects the mental growth and function. There have been numerous court cases on the subject of MR and the establishment of those individuals, their human rights, and social security. My definition of adaptive behavior would be the ability to handle everyday activities without assistance.
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