intellectual disability

[in-tl-ek-choo-uhl dis-uh-bil-i-tee]

noun

1. a developmental disorder characterized in varying degrees by significant limitations on intellectual abilities, such as learning, problem solving, and reasoning, and on adaptive abilities such as social and practical skills: the diagnostic term intellectual disability replaced the older designation mental retardation in the 2010s. ID

Word History and Origins

Origin of intellectual disability¹

First recorded in 1805–10

Example Sentences

A complaint filed in the Central District of California in November 2023 argues that Fiorella’s first trial lawyer, David Hurst, waived a fitness hearing after receiving a neuropsychologist’s report that Fiorella was developmentally disabled and had an IQ score of 68, indicating a mild intellectual disability.

From Los Angeles Times

She is now a full-time carer for Juno, who has a speech impairment and intellectual disability as a result of the genetic illness.

From BBC

Since then, legal challenges have focused on the state’s “failure to provide a single-drug lethal injection option, inadequate protections against executing people with intellectual disability, and inadequate protections against executing those considered insane.”

From Slate

For example, a student with intellectual disability may have an individualized education plan that includes speech therapy.

From Slate

One study shows that between 2000 and 2018, new autism diagnoses of those with intellectual disability rose about 20%, while autism diagnoses in those without intellectual disability rose 700%.

From BBC

Related Words

• cognitive impairment 
• debilitation 
• impairment 
• incapacitation 
• limitation 
• restriction