Shifting boundaries between the normal and the pathological: the case of mild intellectual disability

Abstract

When disorders fade into normality, how can the threshold between normality and disorder be determined? In considering mild intellectual disability, I argue that economic factors partly determine thresholds. We tend to assume that the relationship between disorder, need and services is such that: first, a cut-off point between the disordered and the normal is determined; second, a needy population is identified; and third, resources are found (or at least should be found) to meet this need. However, the changing definitions of intellectual disability can best be understood if we think of this happening in reverse. That is, first, certain resources are thought obtainable, and then a cut-off point for disorder is selected which supplies an appropriately sized 'needy population'.

The interrelationships between motor, cognitive, and language development in children with and without intellectual and developmental disabilities

“…In the current study, we added the third inclusion criterion. The cut-off point of 70 was chosen because it is the usual score used for the classification of an intellectual disability (Cooper, 2014;Edwards & Sarwark, 2005;Schalock et al, 2010). We chose to include the cognitive level as a selection criterion because cognitive deficits are the hallmark characteristic of IDD.…”

Away with the fairies: the psychopathology of visionary encounters in early modern Scotland

“…One’s ability to cope is partly social and economic – the ability to support oneself in society. People for whom that becomes difficult are more likely to be diagnosed as abnormal (Cooper, 2014). This in turn depends on how a person is viewed by family, friends and neighbours.…”