What is Intellectual/Cognitive Disability?

What is Intellectual/Cognitive Disability? (formerly known as Retardation)

Students with MID may demonstrate some, all or a combination of the following characteristics:

• 2-4 years behind in cognitive development which could include math, language, short attention spans, memory difficulties and delays in speech development.
• Social Relationships are often impacted. The MID child may exhibit behavior problems, be immature, display some obsessive/compulsive behaviors and lack the understanding of verbal/non verbal clues and will often have difficulty following rules and routines.
• Adaptive Skill Implications. (Everyday skills for functioning) These children may be clumsy, use simple language with short sentences, have minimal organization skills and will need reminders about hygiene - washing hands, brushing teeth (life skills). etc.
• Weak Confidence is often demonstrated by MID students. These students are easily frustrated and require opportunities to improve self esteem. Lots of support will be needed to ensure they try new things and take risks in learning.
• Concrete to Abstract thought is often missing or significantly delayed. This includes the lacking ability to understand the difference between figurative and literal language."                                                                                                                                     Source:  http://specialed.about.com/od/handlingallbehaviortypes/a/MID.htm                                                                                                                                    
  Cognitive Disorder NOS Symptoms and Diagnosis Overview:
  Cognitive Disorder NOS symptoms and diagnostic criteria follow below. While some of these Cognitive Disorder NOS symptoms may be recognized by family, teachers, legal and medical professionals,  and others, only  properly trained mental health professionals (psychologists, psychiatrists, professional counselors etc.) can or should even attempt to make a mental health diagnosis. Many additional factors are considered in addition to the Cognitive Disorder  NOS symptoms in making proper diagnosis, including frequently medical and psychological testing considerations. This information on Cognitive Disorder NOS  symptoms and diagnostic criteria are for information purposes only and should never replace the judgement and comprehensive assessment of a trained mental health clinician.
  Cognitive Disorder Not Otherwise Specified
  This category is for disorders that are characterized by cognitive dysfunction presumed to be due to the direct physiological effect of a general medical condition that do not meet criteria for any of the specific deliriums, dementias, or amnestic disorders listed in this section and that are not better classified as Delirium Not Otherwise Specified, Dementia Not Otherwise Specified, or Amnestic Disorder Not Otherwise Specified. For cognitive dysfunction due to a specific or unknown substance, the specific Substance-Related Disorder Not Otherwise Specified category should be used. 
  Source: http://www.psychtreatment.com/mental_health_cognitive_disorders_nos.htm
  and finally....
   Recurrent, spontaneous, unprovoked seizures—that is, those associated with epilepsy—affect 3–5% of the population worldwide.^[32,55] The incidence of epilepsy in childhood varies among different age groups and geographic locations. Data from a variety of epidemiological studies have indicated that recurrent unprovoked seizures occur in 1–2% of children, with the highest incidence in the 1st year of life. The incidence of epilepsy plateaus in early childhood and decreases after 10 years of age.^[17,31,33] Approximately 10–40% of children with epilepsy will continue to have seizures despite optimal medical management with AEDs.^{[13,16,25,57]} It is important to be aggressive in the diagnosis and treatment of medically refractory epilepsy in children given the adverse effect of recurrent seizures on early brain development, learning, and memory. Moreover, young children with this intractable disorder may be better candidates for aggressive surgical treatment because of the increased neuroplasticity of the developing brain.^[19,23,71] Other treatment modalities, such as a ketogenic diet and vagus nerve stimulation, can be considered in children who are not good candidates for epilepsy surgery.^{[34,41,44,54]} In this paper we review the definition of medically refractory epilepsy and consider the evaluation of children with medically intractable seizures for surgery. 
  Source: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/581652
  The above are descriptions of Brynn's diagnosis to date. Home Schooling does not cause lower IQ. Epilepsy cannot be faked with recorded Video EEG Clinical Seizures. So for the two hateful, spiteful ignorant people that persistently talk about my child as though you know what your talking about...  Why don't you get a life and stop pretending that you ever cared.