Mental retardation in children. Who are imbeciles?

Imbecility is a mental retardation in children, which manifests itself in a moderate form. This term denotes defects with a persistently pronounced decrease in cognitive activity. A child with such a diagnosis is always noticeable deviations in physical and mental development.

Imbecility

To understand who imbeciles are, you need to know the main features of sick children. Such a diagnosis is put to a child with an average degree of dementia. To establish the degree of intelligence is calculated. If it fluctuates around 25-49 units, one can talk about imbecility.

Such patients are able to learn the simplest actions. They can take care of themselves, and some children carry out simple tasks. But the sick child develops with delay. His speech is indistinct and often forms disjointed sentences from sounds.

Imbecile children can not live on their own. To ensure their existence was safe, they must be under constant supervision. Such people, becoming adults, recognize acquaintances and feel affection for a loved one, but in development they remain big children.

Why does mental retardation arise?

It is proved that the main factor that contributes to the emergence of moderate mental retardation is the deviations acquired by the fetus in the period of intrauterine development. Therefore, the question of who imbeciles are, one can give an unequivocal answer: these are babies who received birth defects due to incorrect development. They can be acquired hereditarily or arise as a result of a poor lifestyle of a pregnant woman.

The main reasons for the emergence of imbecility are:

• Hereditary disorders of metabolic processes;
• Diseases caused by chromosomal changes;
• Infectious diseases that affected the fetal brain;
• Intoxication of the baby as a result of abuse of pregnant alcohol, drugs;
• Oxygen starvation of the fetus;
• The birth of a baby before the time limit;
• The effect of ionizing radiation on the fetus;
• Injuries that the child receives before reaching the age of three.

Often the term imbecility is compared with debilism. In fact, debilicism is an easy form of mental retardation. Such people can not always be distinguished from healthy people. Imbecile-moron is an inappropriate term from a medical point of view. A person with a diagnosis of "debilicism" can learn to read, write and perform simple logical operations.

How is imbecility manifested?

For a moderate form of mental decline, there are certain symptoms:

• Inability to abstract thinking;
• Impossibility to generalize the events occurring around;
• Expressed mental concreteness;
• Difficulties with the formation of concepts.

The speech of imbecile children is poorly developed. Their vocabulary is limited, memory and attention are underdeveloped, and thoughts are primitive.

It is necessary to understand who such imbeciles are legally. The state recognizes them as incompetent and until they reach adulthood they are in special type children's homes. But in the future such people need guardianship.

Is it possible to teach imbeciles?

Most people do not fully understand the meaning of the word "imbecile". Many people compare this concept to idiocy, which is a more severe form of mental retardation.

Children diagnosed with imbecility recognize and remember surrounding objects. They can dress themselves, eat and make a morning toilet. But the lack of ability to independent thinking prevents them from attending a regular school. The training of imbeciles takes place at home and in a correctional school of a special type.

Children with a similar diagnosis are divided into 2 groups:

• Active, mobile guys;
• Indifferent, apathetic.

Depending on the abilities, the activity and nature of the children, special training programs are selected.

Imbeciles in Adult Life

In many countries work is under way to train mentally retarded children and their further social adaptation. Special houses, schools and centers are created for them. They allow not to allocate a sick person from the crowd, not to attract attention to him, to protect him from the widespread question: "Who are imbeciles?" Social services create the necessary conditions for the normal and full-fledged existence of mentally retarded people.

Since 1987, a new position has been introduced in orphanages - a teacher-defectologist. This allowed to improve the corrective work with imbecile children. Diagnostic groups are organized in the boarding homes, where new pupils come. Thanks to this, in four months many children have opportunities to develop cognitive activity. In adulthood, many of them can work in special workshops.