Intellectual disabilities can occur before birth such as Down syndrome and fetal alcohol syndrome, they can also be caused after birth from head injuries, stroke, infections, etc. Signs in children may include delays in mobility development (sitting up, crawling, walking), learning to talk later, difficulty remembering things, trouble understanding social rules, trouble seeing the results of their actions, or having trouble problem solving. If you suspect your child may have an intellectual disability speaking to a medical professional can help determine what next steps may be necessary.

(6) Intellectual disability means significantly subaverage general intellectual functioning, existing concurrently with deficits in adaptive behavior and manifested during the developmental period, that adversely affects a child’s educational performance. The term “intellectual disability” was formerly termed “mental retardation.”