This chapter aims to provide an understanding of intellectual disabilities, which are problems with general mental abilities. It describes the understanding of intellectual disabilities in African context and indigenous knowledge beliefs. The chapter describes the term intellectual disabilities where learners with intellectual disabilities typically begin walking and talking later than what is developmentally acceptable. It explains the African perspective that shifts paradigms of intellectual disability learners in school settings. There are common causes of intellectual disabilities such as genetic conditions, problems during pregnancy, problems during childbirth, and illness or injury. This chapter discusses symptoms of learners with disabilities that assist teachers to diagnose the type of intellectual disabilities, and different levels of support needed by the learner to succeed and function in daily life. The effect and strategies of managing and support learners with intellectual disabilities from rural and urban school settings were included in the content of the chapter.
TopIntroduction
This chapter seeks to understand the intellectual disabilities (IDs) that involve problems with general mental abilities. The target audience for the chapter is teachers, however, a wide range of other practitioners such as curriculum advisors or designers, policymakers, and researchers may benefit as well. Intellectual disabilities are also known as mental retardation. Parekh (2017) contends that IDs affect intellectual and adaptive functioning. It is a category of conditions referred to as neurodevelopmental disorders which involve cognitive and developmental deficiencies. IDs can cause impairment and obstruction of an individual’s ability to work properly in a personal, social, academic, or occupational environment. IDs normally develop at an early stage of development, usually before a learner reaches high school. Learners with intellectual meet developmental milestones at a slower rate than those who do not have IDs.
There are approximately 200 million people worldwide who have an intellectual disability (IQ below 75) and this equates to about 2.6 percent of the global population (Wagner, 2019). Thus, the social competence of intellectual disabilities is high in rural than urban settings. A high rate of intellectual disability is found in low-income countries and has a higher prevalence of disabilities in general. According to a World Health Organization source, persons with intellectual disabilities consist for about 40% of Africa's population, including 10-15% of school-aged children (African Studies Centre, 2008). In South Africa, intellectual disability has an estimated prevalence of between 2% and 3% in developed countries, then a study in rural areas of South Africa found a prevalence rate of 3.6% (Kromberg, Zwane, Manga, Venter, Rosen & Christianson, 2008). Parekh (2017) observes that worldwide, in Africa and South Africa males are more likely than females to be diagnosed with intellectual disability
During developmental stages, learners with IDs normally start walking and talking later than what is developmentally acceptable. However, symptoms of such disorders appear to be more apparent once learners are in a learning environment when developmental delays are more evident relative to other learners of their age. These learners typically struggle to connect socially, communicate properly, and operate at the expected academic level of their age. This chapter focuses on defining intellectual disabilities in an African context. Issues that will be discussed include causes, symptoms, effects, challenges, and strategies to manage and support learners with intellectual disabilities. The chapter also includes a conceptual map that shows how concepts are related to each other.
Figure 1.
The conceptual map of the chapter
The authors in Figure 1 developed the conceptual map to summarise what would constitute the chapter. It would also engage the targeted audience to understand and make meaningful connections between the main idea and other information in understanding intellectual abilities from an African perspective. McDonald and Rogers (2020) concur that a concept map depicts how various ideas are related to one another. Therefore, concepts that constitute headings and subheadings would represent knowledge and a comprehensive understanding of the chapter.