From Mental Retardation to Intellectual Disability: A Proposed Educological Framework for Teaching Students with Intellectual Disabilities in Singapore

This paper begins with the operating definition of “mental retardation” (MR) ? now known as “intellectual disability” (ID) ? and goes on to delve into the historical development of the term, especially the passing of Rosa’s Law (Public Law PL111-256) that has become one big milestone in the field of intellectual disabilities in the American history of special/inclusive education. The authors also discussed about the assumptions underlying the current definition of ID, including the prevalence of ID, its classification and diagnosis, in Singapore. In addition, there is a brief coverage on educology, i.e., wealth of knowledge about education and its process, with the main focus on teaching and learning (T&L) processes for students with ID before the authors went on to introduce the three main educological frameworks of intervention for students with ID involving the T&L processes: the therapist/teacher-centered, the client/learner-centered, and a mix or integration between the first and second educological frameworks of T&L processes. Finally, in their concluding remark, the authors suggested the need for more educological research to be done on T&L processes in order to design better intervention programs for students with ID and recommended heilpedagogy, which means “learning by assisted teaching”, as the appropriate approach