Please help me find some specific instances or examples of
misbehaviors by youngsters (age approximately 10 - 13) who are mildly
retarded.

I am not looking for material on how to treat or cope with behavior
problems, and I am not interested in anything having to do with
holding youngsters responsible for their behavior, etc.  I don't care
whether the behaviors are innocent and unwitting or conscious and
deliberate.  All I want is some examples of actual behaviors that
would be considered outside the range of acceptable behavior and that
might be committed by middle-school-age children with IQs in the
highest range that would be considered "retarded."

Thank you,
Archae0pteryx

Dear archae0pteryx-ga;

Thank you for allowing me to answer your interesting question. Mental
retardation varies from mild, moderate, severe, to profound. These
categories are based on the functioning level of the individual. A
mildly retarded individual is one whose mental abilities are
officially considered to be in the IQ score range from 50 to 75 and
this group makes up an estimated 85% of the US population of retarded
individuals.

Since mildly retarded persons can often acquire academic skills up to
the 6th grade level and can frequently become fairly self-sufficient
and in some cases live independently, their typical misbehaviors are
actually quite similar to that of the uneducated, unrefined, or
immature able minded population. It may be important to note that one
epidemiological study [Rutter, Graham, and Yule (1970) Isle of Wight ]
showed that retarded children and adults are 5-7 times more likely to
have psychiatric problems (autism, schizophrenia, etc) in addition to
their retardation (or at the root of their retardation) than people
with normal intelligence levels. This can account for some of the
behaviors you mentioned and does not accurately reflect the behaviors
universally where all mentally disabled persons are concerned.

Mildly retarded individuals typically have difficulties with social,
communication, cognitive abilities, and functional academic skills.
Many of their misbehaviors are frequently associated with these
incapabilities or their inability to fully comprehend issues
surrounding them. Here are some of the more predictable
characteristics which can lead to misbehaviors that are only limited
by one's imagination:

-*-  Disruptive behavior (talking loudly, inappropriately or
uncharacteristically in conjunction with their surroundings).

-*-  Failing to observe common etiquette (bluntness, interruptive,
poor manners, unappreciative of public appearance, etc.)

-*-  Frustration, confusion, bad memory, inability to maintain focus
or recall detailed instruction.

-*-  Destructive or unsafe behavior (intentionally or
unintentionally), clumsiness.

-*-  Inappropriately emotional (depressed, laughing, crying, etc)

-*-  Behaviors related to stress (anxiety, irritability, withdrawal,
temper tantrums, etc)

-*-  Childish or immature demeanor (defiance, impulsiveness, silliness, etc)

-*-  Megalomaniacal, grandiose or delusional speech and behavior
(lying, fabricating, fantasizing, etc)

-*-  Socially inappropriate behavior (does not fully appreciate social
boundaries, engages in inappropriate conversation without regard to
persons, public swearing, etc.)

-*-  Poor judgment (easily enticed to misbehave by others, may be
willing to accept a dare, may not question non-authoritative
instruction, does not fully consider outcomes or adequately weigh
dangers, etc.)

-*-  Impatient (lack of tolerance, may act out, may become anxious
about unorganized or unstructured circumstances, etc)

I feel compelled to add a caveat here: These are some of the behaviors
typical to some mildly retarded individuals but as I mentioned these
do not accurately describe ALL mildly retarded persons. In fact, if
you look at the list of behaviors you will certainly find
characteristics typical of yourself or someone you know who is clearly
NOT mildly retarded. Like almost any other element of society, a
mildly retarded person?s ?misbehaviors? can probably be summed up in
two ways:
1) A little too much of this, or?
2) Not quite enough of that.

These are obviously problems that many of us experience in our
day-to-day lives, but with mildly retarded people they may (or may
not) be a bit more profound. Is this because we, as able minded
persons, tend to be more judgmental about THEIR behavior (right or
wrong), or is it because we are more sensitive to behavioral errors
(in anyone) when we see them? The answer to that question remains
unanswered. In my opinion, if we are to gauge someone?s mental
capacity by his or her behavior alone, we?d probably have to conclude
that more than half the people we know are mildly retarded. I say that
tongue-in-cheek, of course, but my intent is not to make light of
these unfortunate people, rather to convey the relative normalcy in
their behavior as compared to that of the so-called ?able-minded?.

I hope you find that my answer exceeds your expectations. If you have
any questions about my research please post a clarification request
prior to rating the answer. Otherwise I welcome your rating and your
final comments and I look forward to working with you again in the
near future. Thank you for bringing your question to us.

Best regards;
Tutuzdad-ga ? Google Answers Researcher



INFORMATION SOURCES

HEALTH A TO Z
http://www.healthatoz.com/healthatoz/Atoz/ency/mental_retardation.jsp

PREDICTABLE ROUTINES ENHANCE LIFESTYLES OF THE MILDLY RETARDED
http://www.behavior.org/journals_BAD/V6n4/digest_V6n4_routines.cfm

PSYCHIATRIC ILLNESS IN MENTALLY RETARDED ADOLESCENTS: CLINICAL FEATURES
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2248/is_n130_v33/ai_21072044

MENTAL RETARDATION
http://www.minddisorders.com/Kau-Nu/Mental-retardation.html


SEARCH STRATEGY


SEARCH ENGINE USED:

Google ://www.google.com


SEARCH TERMS USED:

Behavior

Inappropriate

Mildly retarded

Typical

Judgment

---

Request for Answer Clarification by archae0pteryx-ga on 03 Apr 2006 22:29 PDT

Hi, tutuzdad, and thank you for your interesting answer.

I do agree that your answer exceeds my expectations, and I am ready to
accept it and rate it right now.  However, I'd like to offer you a
bonus question if you're interested.  If not, that's fine, and I'll be
satisfied with what you've already supplied.

The follow-up expansion question is whether you find that in this
population there is any special tendency toward obsessions or
excessive fascinations, such as with shiny objects, a color, or a
certain type of food.  I am not asking about OCD but rather a behavior
such as being irresistibly drawn toward things of a certain kind, and
particularly having ungovernable impulses to touch them or steal them
or in some other way behave inappropriately with them.

If you prefer not to add anything to your answer, I'll make this a
separate question.

Thank you,
Archae0pteryx

---

Clarification of Answer by tutuzdad-ga on 04 Apr 2006 06:42 PDT

In my follow-up research I found no references to obsessions like the
one you described that can be attributed specifically to, or
especially to this segment of the population. There are, of course,
the usual inclinations that pervade the entire populace and presumably
this segment as well, such as kleptomania, fascination with fire, OCD
and other impulse-control disorders but the prevalence of these does
not seem to be magnified by retardation of any kind.

There is a study that suggests that Post Concussion Syndrome (PCS)
"CAN", in some cases, lead to an abornmal obsession with certain
objects, but again, unless the retardation is the result of some type
of concussive injury to the brain I suspect that even this is a rare
phenomenon in mildly retarded individuals. You can read a bit more
about this study here:

Symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) versus Symptoms of
Post Concussion Syndrome (PCS)
http://www.brainevaluation.com/articles/ptsdvrspts.html

Likewise there are studies that show that autism (a secondary
phsychological problem that sometimes accompanies mild retardation)
might be the root cause of some objective obsessions. Like the
incidence of PCS above, this however is not necessarily related to the
diminished intellectual abilites rather it is directly related almost
exclusively to the secondary autism.

GOOGLE
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&safe=off&q=%22obsession+with+certain+objects%22+retarded&btnG=Search

Regards;
tutuzdad-ga

Very fine, tutuzdad.  This is everything I needed and more.  Thank you.

Archae0pteryx