Facts on the Mentally Handicapped

Mentally handicapped people face a lifetime of challenges. The first is the preconceived notion that a mental handicap is the same thing as a mental illness. Other challenges include performing activities of daily living, obtaining needed services and coping with any associated illnesses.

Definition

• According to the English Collins Dictionary, mentally handicapped is defined as, "a general or specific intellectual disability, resulting directly or indirectly from injury to the brain or from abnormal neurological development." Other terms for this condition may include cognitively impaired, intellectually disabled and mentally retarded.

Statistics

• The Arc estimates 6.2 to 7.5 million people have intellectual disabilities, and that intellectual disabilities are 10 times more common than cerebral palsy, 28 times more prevalent than neural tube defects and 25 times more common than blindness.

Associated Conditions

• Mental handicaps often are associated with other medical conditions such as hearing loss, vision loss, musculo-skeletal complications, seizure disorders, cerebral palsy, migraines, cranial/facial deformities and behavioral disorders.

Supportive Services

• The mentally handicapped often qualify for Social Security benefits and Medicaid. Other services utilized include occupational, physical, and speech therapies; vocational training; respite care; assisted living facilities; and mental health services.

Obtaining Services

• Contact groups like the Arc and the American Association for Intellectual and Developmental Delayed to find services. Visit the Social Security Administration online and check out local resources, including school coordinators, welfare offices, mental health associations and group homes for access to more services.