Developmental Disabilities

Few tasks are as demanding as the professional need to determine the nature of a child or adult who is having difficulty functioning in the school or home environment. Physicians and educators find that people may fail in a variety of ways and for a variety of reasons, and the individual diagnostician faces quite a formidable task in determining the facts in even the simplest of cases (Wodrich & Joy, 1986, p. 1). It is the purpose of this paper to discuss in a general way the interdisciplinary approach to developmental disabilities and to provide a social perspective on the difficulties of persons who fail to thrive in the demands of their lives.

Historically, the concept of mental retardation arose out of a social need, the need for wealthy families to protect their property rights. In England, the King's Act of 1324 proclaimed that individuals who could not manage their own affairs were designated as "idiots," a legal term, and their property was held by the Crown until later assumed by heirs (Wodrich & Joy, 1986, p. 3). Inability to meet life's demands was the first attribute in the concept of mental retardation. Idiocy was assumed to be congenital and permanent, and "lunacy" was a term used to indicate mental conditions that were assumed to be transient. The common denominator between the two limitations was deficient mental ability.

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entific orientation, has tended to center in on the causes of developmental delays. Steven Coker, M.D., states flatly that mental retardation is not treatable (1989, p. 103). All that can be done is to determine the origins and decide what to do to manage the results. He advocates taking a medical history to find out whether the mother used alcohol, took medications during the pregnancy, or was exposed to toxins or infections. He favors a practical approach to helping parents face the realities of caring for a retarded child, mainly to protect them from spending a large amount of money on time-consuming multiple therapies (Coker, 1989, p. 103) Behavioral medicine has arisen as a medical specialty which concerns itself with application of knowledge and techniques which prevent, diagnose, treat, and rehabilitate individuals with developmental delays. Such specialties as psychosis, neurosis, and substance abuse may be included in behavioral medical approaches to developmental disabilities if physical disorders are the final result of such influences (Barrett & Matson, 1987, p. 4). However, as with any evolving discipline in any field, the conceptual and methodological boundaries have not been uniformly established within the f
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Approximate Word count = 2189
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page)

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