Special School for Mentally Retarded Children
Mental illnesses range from autism to cerebral palsy to Down syndrome. Mental retardation refers to a condition in which a person faces certain limitations related to his or her mental functioning and also in skills like communication and social interaction. These limitations allow a child to develop and learn a bit slower than the normal children.
Children with mental challenges can take longer to walk, speak and care about their personal routine that covers eating or dressing. They even have trouble keeping up with the usual syllabus in school. They need to catch up with the important training programmes and learn slowly and there are things that they cannot learn or pick-up.
Symptoms to Look For
Mental retardation is not some contagious disease but has several signs to consider. Children with special mental needs display symptoms, such as sitting, crawling or walking late. They also talk late or have problems while speaking. Such kids find difficulty in remembering and understanding things or social rules. They face issues in trying to interpret the result of their actions. They also face challenges in solving problems and thinking logically.
87 percent of those suffering from mental disabilities have issues in grasping new concepts and skills as well as their limitations cannot be obvious. The problem may be diagnosed quite later when the children start going to school. As they mature, they can be taught to live independently. However, the problem is more severe in some kids as 13 percent of them may score below 50 on the IQ level. These kids can face difficulty while they are at school, home or in their community.
Special Children are Taught to be Independent
Those suffering from severe retardation can require more intensive support throughout life. But, one common thing among all is that they all learn to develop and grow irrespective of the level of the severity of their problem. With help, every special child can have a satisfying life as they are offered help through need based services along with latest supportive equipment for their all-round development.
The educational and rehabilitative support may work wonders if there are caring families involved along with a dedicated and professionally competent special teachers and therapists. They play an important role to ensure proper treatment and rehabilitation as the correctional services are carried out. Initial medical tests are carried out to make an assessment of the problems of a child. Then, an IQ assessment is done to categorise the child into mild, moderate, profound or severe levels.
Thereafter, on the basis of their assessed capability, special education is imparted. In addition, occupational therapy, speech therapy and physiotherapy are carried out along with side-by-side vocational training at a special school for mentally retarded children.
