Caring for children with mental retardation

This is an automatically translated article.

The article was consulted with Dr. Le Thu Phuong - Pediatrician - Neonatologist - Department of Pediatrics - Neonatology - Vinmec Hai Phong International General Hospital.
Children with mental retardation are children with IQ less than 70, children with limited skills and need support from others. Parents need to understand the strengths and weaknesses of their children in order to take better care of them.

1. What is mental retardation?

Mental retardation is a disability of brain development, children with mental retardation have lower intelligence than normal, IQ is less than 70, and daily living skills are also impaired. limit. Mental retardation is divided into 4 levels including:
Mild: Children with IQ between 50 and 69. Most children with mental retardation belong to this group (about 85%). They can study until 6th grade, can live independently with the support of family and community. Average: Children have IQ from 35 to 49. About 10% of children with mental retardation belong to this group. Children can take care of themselves with guidance, they need to go to special schools to learn the skills they need to live in the community. Severe: Children with IQ from 20 to 34. Only about 2-3% of children with mental retardation belong to this group. Children need to go to special schools to learn basic skills so they can take care of themselves and develop a number of other essential skills. Very severe: Children with IQ below 20. About 1-2% of children with mental retardation belong to this group. Children often have neurological damage and need regular monitoring and help.

Mental retardation is very common with 1-3% of the population. At this rate, each year in Vietnam, about 12,000 to 36,000 children will have mental retardation. The cause may be genetic, or abnormalities occur during pregnancy, birth events, ... or postpartum causes such as encephalitis, lead poisoning, mercury,... even Poverty, lack of communication and care for children can also lead to mental retardation.
Psychomotor retardation is often limited or delayed in some skills such as: movement, communication, play, social skills,... Children will have many difficulties in learning and continuing acquire knowledge. Therefore, these children have to spend more time learning to speak, learn to walk and learn to take care of themselves in daily needs such as eating, personal hygiene, dressing, etc.
Children's mental retardation is not due to laziness or unwillingness to learn, but this is an unintended risk defect. Therefore, children need to receive sympathy, love and respect from family and community. Children need to receive the same medical, educational and social guarantees as other normal children. With appropriate educational support and guidance, children will develop necessary skills for life and reduce the burden on family and society.

2. Manifestations of children with mental retardation

Children with mental retardation are often detected at school age, have difficulties in the learning process and have abnormal behavior. Children with mental retardation may have some of the following symptoms:
Slow in motor development: Children who are slow to turn over, sit, crawl and walk Slow to speak or speak Difficulty remembering things Poor understanding Knowing about basic social rules Not being aware of the consequences of one's behavior Difficulty serving basic needs such as: Self-feeding, personal hygiene. Difficulty in thinking rationally Excessive hyperactivity, poor concentration, aggression, resistance, self-injury. Anxiety, depression Sleep disorders Children may also have epilepsy or have some mental problems, abnormal behavior. Children may fall into a sad, depressed mood if they are shunned by classmates or feel disrespected by others. Many children can act destructive, violent, and out of control in the face of a small grievance. This happens because children cannot learn to behave and reason like normal children.
To determine how children under 6 years of age can develop, a number of multiple-choice tests can be used to measure development indexes such as:
Fagan test can be measured for children from 6.5 months to 12 months of age DENVER I scale, II Scale CAPUTE Scale BRUNET LEZINE IQ Test Raven

3. Taking care of children with mental retardation

Taking care of children with mental retardation is a challenge for parents and requires patience and understanding. Parents need to understand the strengths and weaknesses of their children so that they can help them to show all their abilities.
Children with mental retardation often have difficulty communicating with people around them. Children often do not know how to play games and have difficulty expressing their feelings. Therefore, parents need to find ways to play with their children, teach and dialogue with their children, and create conditions for those around them to play and communicate with them.
First of all, parents need to pay attention to issues such as restricting children to play alone, so there should always be someone to play with. Players with children need to know how to put themselves in children's shoes to understand children. You can first play according to the child's will to let the child accept, then help the child play under the guidance of adults so that the child can learn new things. Also note that children will learn slower than other children in all areas of life, so parents need to have patience in teaching their children.
Some children with mild mental retardation can attend school with normal children and can keep up with children of their age. However, it is difficult for children with moderate and severe mental retardation to attend regular schools. Children need to receive individual care and help to be able to learn well. Therefore, in specialized schools, teachers will create individual programs for each child and identify each child's needs and work with families to help children learn and grow.

4. Treatment and prevention

4.1 Treatment

Mental retardation has no treatment regimen, the main purpose of treatment is to help children develop to their fullest potential. Special education and training programs should be started at an early age to help children develop as close to normal as possible. Some centers have career guidance organizations to help children learn some simple trades and create income-generating jobs.
Children with mental retardation who have signs of mental illness such as depression, thought disorders, disruptive behavior, etc. should be examined by psychiatrists for treatment methods. suitable.

4.2 Prevention

Prevention of children with mental retardation is only effective in cases where there is a clear cause. Currently, medicine allows to perform a number of prenatal tests and ultrasounds to help detect some diseases that cause mental retardation, such as Down syndrome, or to test immediately after birth to detect diseases such as: Congenital hypothyroidism for prompt treatment.
Mothers should be advised to get vaccinated against measles due to rubella virus . Do not drink a lot of alcohol and need to eat well during pregnancy to prevent mental retardation. Mothers should see a genetic counselor for advice.
In summary, mental retardation is a disability of brain development, children with mental retardation have lower intelligence than normal. As a result, children are slow to develop skills of daily living. Therefore, children need to receive more help than other children, child care needs to be patient and appropriate to the child's level. Families with mentally retarded children can consult a psychologist or psychiatrist for better child care measures.
Vinmec International General Hospital has a Center for Genetics and Prenatal Diagnosis with leading experts who will help detect a number of diseases from the fetus to prepare for a healthy birth. young. In addition, this is also the address for receiving and examining diseases that infants and young children are susceptible to: viral fever, bacterial fever, otitis media, pneumonia in children,... With equipment Modern equipment, sterile space, minimizing the impact as well as the risk of disease spread. Along with that is the dedication from the doctors with professional experience with pediatric patients, making the examination no longer a concern of the parents.

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