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 2016 review of CDC data found that approximately 26.7% of 8-year-olds with autism had what some advocates refer to as “profound autism,” the end of the spectrum that often includes seriously disabling behaviors such as seizures, self-injurious behavior and intellectual disability.

From Los Angeles Times

Pittman’s intellectual disability in itself should be enough to stop the state from executing him.

From Slate

Stuart Todd is a professor of intellectual disability research at the University of South Wales.

From BBC

But disability claims are more complicated than ordering toothpaste, according to SSA officials and experts, and Social Security’s customer base is older and more likely to have an intellectual disability than the average Amazon Prime member.

From Salon

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

Related Words

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