Socioeconomic Profile of Intellectually Disabled Children

Intellectual Disability (ID) (formerly called mental retardation) is the most common developmental disability. Intellectual disability (ID) is characterized by significant impairment in cognitive and adaptive behavior. The overall prevalence of intellectually challenged children is between 1-3 % among all children under 18 years of age. Intellectual disability can be mild, moderate or severe. Children with such disability typically require more support from the family, society and especially from school. Children with milder IDs can gain some independent skills, especially in communities with good teaching and support. There are many programs and resources available to help these children as they grow into adulthood. The education for children with intellectual disabilities has changed from no education to special education and so many special schools have evolved in the community to cater to the needs of the intellectually disabled children. Children enrollment in these schools has increased to a greater extend at present. This study aims to understand the socioeconomic profile of the families of the children attending schools. Questionnaire was framed to collect the needed data of 338 childrens family and individual record of the children maintained by the institution where the child is enrolled were used to get the pertinent information. It is inferred from the study results that, the study population belonged to the age group of 9-16 years. The percentage of boys in the study population was 67.2 % and female 32.8 %. Majority of the children who attended the school were from nuclear type of family (71.3 %) and hailed from urban area (65 %). The religion of majority of the children was Hindu and the financial position was moderate in 62 % of the family. The educational level of the childrens father (Middle School) was better than the mothers (Primary School). Consanguineous type of marriage was found in 66.9 % of the family. The obtained results showed a statistically significant association between the level of retardation and socioeconomic determinants such as age and gender.