Mental Retardation

Mental retardation/intellectual disability is significantly subaverage intellectual functioning present from birth or early infancy, causing limitations in the ability to conduct normal activities of daily living. Levels of Mental Retardation/Intellectual Disability
Level	Intelligence Quotient (IQ) Range	Ability at Preschool Age (Birth to 6 Years)	Ability at School Age (6 to 20 Years)	Ability at Adult Age (21 Years and Older)
Mild	52-69	Can develop social and communication skills; motor coordination is slightly impaired; often not diagnosed until later age	Can learn up to about the 6th-grade level by late teens; can be expected to learn appropriate social skills	Can usually achieve enough social and vocational skills for self-support; may need guidance and assistance during times of unusual social or economic stress
Moderate	36-51	Can talk or learn to communicate; social awareness is poor; motor coordination is fair; can profit from training in self-help	Can learn some social and occupational skills; can progress to elementary school level in schoolwork; may learn to travel alone in familiar places	May achieve self-support by performing unskilled or semiskilled work under sheltered conditions; needs supervision and guidance when under mild social or economic stress
Severe	20-35	Can say a few words; able to learn some self-help skills; has limited speech skills; motor coordination is poor	Can talk or learn to communicate; can learn simple health habits; benefits from habit training	May contribute partially to self-care under complete supervision; can develop some useful self-protection skills in controlled environment
Profound	19 or below	Extreme cognitive limitation; little motor coordination; may need nurse	Some motor coordination; limited communication skills	May achieve very limited self-care; usually needs nursing