Imbecility is a mental retardation in children, which manifests itself in a moderate form. This term refers to defects with a pronounced decrease in cognitive activity. In a child with such a diagnosis, deviations in physical and mental development are always noticeable .
Imbecility
To understand who such imbeciles, you need to know the main features of sick children. Such a diagnosis is made for a child with moderate
dementia. To establish the degree, the intelligence coefficient is calculated. If it fluctuates around 25–49 units, we can talk about imbecility.
Such patients are able to learn the simplest actions. They can take care of themselves, and some children carry out simple tasks. But a sick child develops late. His speech is slurred and often forms incoherent sentences from sounds.
Imbecile children are not able to live independently. For their existence to be safe, they must be constantly monitored. Such people, having grown up, recognize their acquaintances and feel affection for a loved one, but in development they remain big children.
Why does mental retardation occur?
It is proved that the main factor that contributes to the occurrence of moderate mental retardation is the abnormality acquired by the fetus during fetal development. Therefore, the question of who are imbeciles can give an unambiguous answer: these are babies who have received birth defects due to improper development. They can be acquired hereditarily or arise as a result of a poor lifestyle of a pregnant woman.
The main causes of imbecility include:
- hereditary metabolic disorders;
- diseases caused by chromosomal changes;
- infectious diseases affecting the brain of the fetus;
- intoxication of the baby as a result of abuse of the pregnant alcohol, drugs;
- fetal oxygen starvation;
- premature birth of a baby;
- the effect of ionizing radiation on the fetus;
- injuries that the child receives before he reaches the age of three.
Often the term imbecility is compared with moronity. In fact, moronity is a mild form of mental retardation. Such people cannot always be distinguished from healthy people. Imbecile moron is an inappropriate concept from a medical point of view. A person with a diagnosis of “moron” can learn to read, write and perform simple logical operations.
How is imbecility manifested?
For a moderate form of mental disability, certain symptoms are characteristic:
- inability to abstract thinking;
- the inability to generalize events occurring around;
- pronounced mental concreteness;
- difficulties with the formation of concepts.
The speech of imbecile children is poorly developed. Their vocabulary is limited, memory and attention are underdeveloped, and thoughts are primitive.
It should be understood who such imbeciles are legally. They are recognized as incompetent by the state and are in special type of children's homes until they reach adulthood. But in the future, such people require custody.
Is imbecile training possible?
Most people do not fully understand the meaning of the word "imbecile." Many people compare this concept with idiocy, which is a more severe form of mental retardation.
Children with a diagnosis of imbecility recognize and remember the surrounding objects. They can dress themselves, eat and make the morning toilet. But the lack of the ability to think independently does not allow them to attend regular school. Training imbeciles occurs at home and in a special type of correctional school.
Children with a similar diagnosis are conditionally divided into 2 groups:
- active, mobile guys;
- indifferent, apathetic.
Depending on the abilities, the displayed activity and character, special training programs are selected for children.
Imbeciles in adulthood
In many countries, work is underway to train mentally retarded children and their further
social adaptation. Special houses, schools and centers are being created for them. They allow not to distinguish a sick person from the crowd, not to draw attention to him, to protect him from the common question: “Who are imbeciles?” Social services create the necessary conditions for the normal and full existence of mentally retarded people.
Since 1987, a new position has been introduced in orphanages - a defectologist. This made it possible to improve corrective work with imbecile children. In boarding houses diagnostic groups are organized, where new pupils enter. Thanks to this, over four months, many children identify the development of cognitive activity. In adulthood, many of them can work in special workshops.