THE MENTALLY RETARDED CHILDREN

Chapter 19

THE MENTALLY RETARDED CHILDREN

The Chapter at a Glance

Characteristics of retarded children.

Causes and prevention of retardation.

Education of the retarded child.

Importance of educating the retarded child.

            Certain children are exceptionally low in intelligence. They are mentally subnormal to such an extent as to be unable to follow regular school instruction. Those among them whose I. Q. falls below 70 are known as mentally retarded children.

            A school may be very well-organized, the teaching staff highly qualified, the instructional methods and the general environment of the school extremely congenial; yet, despite all this, "there will still be problem cases among the exceptional group, whatever its makeup, that do not respond to the educa­tional program."

Characteristics of Retarded Children

            A retarded child develops more slowly than the normal child. Thus at the age of six which is the normal school going age in most countries of the world, such a child might be at the mental level of a child of four or five, or even below that. He is, therefore, unable to begin schooling at the right time. Even when he starts schooling he is a markedly slow learner. Discouraged and disgusted, he might develop a disliking for school and its activities. Lack of proper schooling adds to his social and emotional maladjustments.

            The typical features of a retarded child are: physical inferiority, constant ill-health, emotional instability, social mal­adjustment, imperfect and defective vocabulary, limited and simple interests, infantile hobbies, short attention span, slow reaction time, inability to generalize, lack of ability to work with abstractions, poor initiative, lack of originality, diminished sense of auto criticism and personal restraint, poor habits of application, hyper suggestibility, fickle-mindedness and marked inclination towards immorality and delinquency.

Causes and Prevention of Retardation

            No single cause is responsible for retardation. It appears to be a phenomenon of multiple causation. A brief summary of the causes and the preventive measures that have usually been suggested might help the teacher to understand and reduce the difficulties of a retarded child to a certain extent.

Causes of Retardation

            Usually more than one factor is responsible for causing mental retardation. Some of the prominent kinds of causative factors are as follows:—

            (1) Hereditary factors.

            (2) Physiological factors.

            (3) Emotional factors.

            (4) Sociological factors.

(1) Hereditary Factors: It has been widely held that hereditary factors are mainly responsible for retardation. A large proportion of mentally retarded children have inherited this defect from parents who are mentally retarded.

(2) Physiological Factors: Brain deterioration is another important causative factor. Injuries to brain cells caused by trauma or fevers, for example, have been found to result in mental retardation. Diseases like meningitis, encephalitis, con­genital syphilis, German measles taken by the mother during the first few months of pregnancy, pelvic irradiation of the pregnant mothers, etc., are also responsible for causing retarda­tion.

            Apoplexy, epilepsy, insanity and paralysis have also been mentioned as causes. Subnormal conditions of the mother during gestation, birth accidents, parental alcoholism, syphilitic or tubercular conditions, head injuries during early infancy, acute infectious diseases, convulsions, malnutrition and under­nourishment may also cause retardation.

(3) Emotional Factors: Mental retardation, especially that aspect of it which manifests itself in poor scholastic achievement, might be due to deeper emotional factors, operative in the life of the child.

(4) Sociological Factors: Some sociologists have even maintained that retardation is the result of economic and social conditions prevailing in a family.

Prevention of Retardation

            Many measures have been suggested for the prevention of mental retardation. Some of the common preventive measures are as follows:—

            (1)   Segregation.

            (2)   Sterilization.

            (3)   Birth control.

(1) Segregation: It has been advocated that mentally re­tarded children should be segregated from normal children and kept in special institutions.

(2) Sterilization: Seriously retarded parents and their chil­dren should be sterilized to put an end to the propagation of their species.

(3) Birth Control: Relevant information on and apparatus for conception control could also be given to mentally retarded parents to stop the multiplication of the mentally poorly endowed children.

Education of the Retarded Child

            Retardation is essentially an educational problem. It mani­fests itself clearly in a child's exceptionally slow rate of progress at school. The problem before the teacher is to find out the causes and analyze specific areas of retardation. Such know­ledge helps him immensely in the task of reducing the retarda­tion of the child.

            The fundamentals of normal education do not differ from these of special education. Martin and others maintain that "the basic philosophy underlying the education of the retarded children is not different from that recognized for all children; the fundamental aim of all education is to teach children to live wisely and well in the environment in which they find them­selves."

Some of the helpful principles that should guide the teacher of retarded children are as follows:—

            (1) Equality of opportunity.

            (2) Appropriate school work.

            (3) Training for desirable conduct.

            (4) Avoidance of stigmatization.

            (5) Pre-academic programs.

(1) Equality of Opportunity: The fate of a retarded child in a class of normal children is very pathetic. He is usually senior-most in age but junior-most in scholastic achievement. Forced to keep pace with other children, far superior to him mentally, he usually finds it exceedingly hard to make even the minimum amount of progress expected of children of his age. He generally repeats grades and develops a failure complex.

            The principle of equality of opportunity in his case obvious­ly demands that the teacher should pay him special and indivi­dualized attention. Simple instruction and sympathetic guidance is liable to stimulate him to make an effort for some sort of a progress and achievement.

(2) Appropriate School Work: If retarded children are given such simple and easy work at school as is appropriate to their mental level they normally fair much better. When they achieve a little amount of success it serves as an incentive for further effort.

 (3) Training for Desirable Conduct: Mentally retarded children need simple training favorable for the development of a desirable form of general behavior. They need to be trained to live cheerfully, keep themselves occupied in useful pursuits, develop habits of cleanliness, self-control, truthfulness, honesty and respect for others' liberty and property.

(4) Avoidance of Stigmatization: Ridicule and disparage­ment of such children should be discouraged. Normal children are prone to label retarded children as "dunces," "dumbbells," "feeble-minded," "subnormal," "dim," etc. They should be made to understand the injurious effect of such stigmatory titles.

(5) Pre-Academic Programs: It has been found that prolonged pre-academic programs prove very useful for re­tarded children. Such educational programs consist of in­teresting and engaging events and experiences which are provid­ed to the retarded child long before his regular academic work starts. Pre-academic work is designed to develop imagination in the retarded child. It gives him easy and interesting practice in certain specific mental functions.

            Patterson used pre-academic programs with retarded children under 12 years of age and found that these resulted in better adjustment throughout childhood. Better progress in subsequent academic learning also resulted from the use of these pre-academic programs.

Special Classes and Curricula

            Wherever possible, retarded children should be placed either in a special class of a school for normal children or placed in a special institution exclusively meant for such children. Group­ing them with normal children in average schools affects their mental and scholastic health all the more adversely. Conse­quently, they are more likely to feel insecure and unhappy most of the time.

            Specially prepared curricula should be taught in the special classes and institutions for retarded children. Their syllabi should emphasize practical work rather than bookish and academic knowledge. Their education should also have a suffi­cient vocational bias, suited to the level of their mental develop­ment.

            It may, however, be remembered that entry into such special classes or institutions may lead all the more to the stigmatization of retarded children as an abnormal and inferior group. In that case, these children should be kept with normal children and paid special and individual attention by the teacher.

Clinic for the Retarded Children

            If a school teacher fails to cope with a retarded child he may refer him to a psychological clinic meant for the guidance and treatment of retarded children. In Western countries such clinics are usually within easy reach of nearly every school.

            The following type of staff usually works in a clinic for retarded children:—

(1)       The Psychologist who analyzes the nature, extent and causes of a     child' retardation and tries various psychological methods of reducing it. He also offers help and guidance to the child to overcome the undesirable effects of his retardation.

(2)       The Visiting Teacher who works as a liaison officer between the clinic and the family. He calls on the parents and brings the picture of the home and its environment to the clinic.

(3)       The Medical Staff which usually consists of a trained physician, a nurse and, in special cases, a psychiatrist. These specialists approach the problem from a pre­dominantly medical angle.

            Unfortunately such specialized clinics are not available in our country. The desirability of opening such clinics is too obvious to need any pleading.

Some Significant Educational Problems

            An effective education of retarded children requires that attention should be paid to a number of problems. Some such significant problems and a few suggestions to tackle them are mentioned as follows:—

            (1) The class-size.

            (2) Modern equipment.

            (3) Special curriculum.

            (4) Methods of teaching.

            (5) Avoidance of prejudice.

            (6) The teaching staff.

(1) The Class-size: The irksome work of teaching retarded children, for obvious reasons, involves the paying of more individual attention to the pupils. The size of the class, therefore, must be as limited as possible. In Western countries such classes usually vary from 10 to 20 pupils per class.

(2) Modern Equipment: The class-room should be adequately furnished and well ventilated. Special educational equipment like visual aids material, educational films, auditory aids, etc., is absolutely indispensable for such pupils.

(3) Special Curriculum:       The curriculum for mentally retarded children should be exceptionally simple, interesting and stimulating. It should be carefully graded. It should abound in practical work and have a vocational bias suited to the mental level of the children.

(4) Methods of Teaching: The methods of instruction must be extremely simple and individualized. Some noteworthy features of such methods are:—

            (a)       Frequent drilling and repetition.

            (b)       Instruction of a practical nature and avoidance of lengthy and theoretical

                          discussions.

            (c)       While teaching social sciences, literature and history, emphasis should centre

                           round interesting events, characters rather than trends, spirits, philosophies,

                           etc., which are very difficult to be grasped by such children.

            (d)       In the teaching of Geography and Civics, attention should be focused on the

                           child's own street, mohallah, tehsil, town, province or country and concrete

                           situations in them. Foreign countries, their topography, governments and

                           civilizations are to be avoided be­cause they are usually beyond the

                           comprehension of mentally retarded children.

(5) Avoidance of Prejudice: It is desirable that the teacher should avoid thinking of retarded children in terms of '"dunces", "dims", or "dumbbells", etc. He should discourage others too to refer to such children in those disparaging terms.

            The teacher should rather train himself to think and to refer to them as those children who happen to be educationally re­tarded and hence in need of more individual attention, more sympathetic understanding and more careful guidance than that normally required by the average children.

(6) The Teaching Staff:       A highly specialized teaching staff is needed to carry on instructional work with mentally retarded children. Such a staff should possess all the usual academic qualifications, per­sonality traits and have the necessary experience needed for efficient teaching.

In addition to these qualifications, a practical knowledge of the psychology of exceptional children, especially retarded children, is also indispensable.

            Preparation of such a specially qualified staff presents a number of financial and administrative hurdles which must be overcome.

Importance of Educating the Retarded Child

            It is an undeniable fact that every country usually has a sufficiently large number of children who are mentally retarded. If these handicapped children are properly guided and suitably educated they are bound to feel happy and secure. They are then most likely to develop into law abiding and fairly self-supporting adults, involving the least economic or social burden on their families or on the state.

            Should their proper training and education be ignored or mishandled, however, they are most liable to develop into un­happy and maladjusted persons. They may even resort to delinquent and immoral behavior. Our negligence, therefore, might turn them into social nuisances as well as sources of serious economic drain on their family and the state.