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

The first notable subject to use facilitated communication was Anne McDonald, a non-verbal Australian woman with cerebral palsy, a severe intellectual disability, and no control over her limbs.

From BBC

For those who do survive, he added, 50 percent of them are left with long-term physical or mental impairments, running the gambit from intellectual disability, seizures, paralysis and cranial nerve dysfunction.

From Salon

Table tennis is played by athletes with a physical or intellectual disability divided into 11 classes.

From BBC

As reported by USA Today, Games organizers elected to suspend the intellectual disability classification at the next two Paralympics.

From Salon

The Colin Farrell Foundation seeks to remedy that transition by providing people in the intellectual disability community with “education, awareness, advocacy, and innovative programs,” the website says.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

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