Intellectual disability is a neurodevelopmental disorder, that is to say, a disorder of the development of the functions of the brain that begins in the first years of life, when it is in the phase of maximum growth.
Etiology of intellectual disability associated with language
The causes are very varied but it always starts in the first years, at birth or even earlier, while the diagnosis is clinical. By clinical diagnosis we mean the exact description, through expert observation and specific tests of both Psychology and Speech Therapy, of the difficulties that the child/or adult manifest difficulties that begin to become more evident when language development is at its peak, between the ages of 3 and 6. It is important to say this because the intervention will be more effective when it starts earlier, given the great plasticity of the children's brain (neuroplasticity).
The brain has different areas and functions and it may be that a child with an intellectual disability has more difficulty in one area than in others. This is the case of the language disorder associated with an intellectual disability.
Symptoms of the language disorder associated with intellectual disability
The people affected they present difficulties especially in verbal language, complex function that, roughly, it shows two fundamental parts: the receptive language, that is the ability to understand what is heard; and expressive, the ability to use language to communicate.
Language is essential to communicate with others, to express what we feel and make ourselves understood, to understand what is happening around us, and to understand ourselves (internal language). This is why these children, boys or adults can suffer complications when interacting and relating to the environment on a day-to-day basis, a basic need in any person and throughout everything its life cycle.
To the overall difficulties given by intellectual disability, are added more pronounced obstacles in language, which may go unnoticed or considered as part of the intellectual disability. Or, in other cases, they can be confused with other types of deficits. For this reason, the detection and diagnosis phase is crucial: to explore what the neuropsychological profile is in order to understand how the different functions of the person's brain work, which ones are altered and, finally, to be able to put in place the necessary support, individualized treatment, adjusted guidance and, in cases that require it, try to find the cause with specialized medical tests.
Treatment of language disorders associated with intellectual disability from the Aspace Catalunya Foundation
In the case of an intellectual disability with an associated language disorder, it is particularly important to treat it as soon as possible and comprehensively: in the academic field, accompany and reinforce learning; and in the psychosocial field, to provide the child and his family with support so that well-being, self-esteem and emotional balance are not affected in any area: at school, at home, in leisure activities and other social spaces. In the case of children, strengthen the weak points and at the same time accompany the child and his family towards the construction of a solid emotional base, towards a future of autonomy, self-realization and happiness.
At Aspace we are experts in the detection of these types of difficulties and we advocate a multidisciplinary therapy that involves Speech Therapists, Psychologists, Neuropediatricians or Neurologists, and when necessary Rehabilitation Doctor, Psychiatrist and Ophthalmologist always putting the user and his family at the center. We work in an integrated way with the rest of the community network from school and health services throughout all stages of life, with the aim of developing the compromised areas and adapting learning strategies to bring out - him the maximum benefit.
