In this issue, we will discuss developmental disabilities in terms of medicine and psychology.
If you index the word "developmental disability" in the dictionary, you will find that it means "a condition in which the development of mental and physical functions is difficult or extremely slow, or a condition that occurs in early childhood and in which mental, intellectual, or emotional development remains stunted during the growth process.
Some of the disorders are neurological, such as the brain and ears, while others are mental, such as autism and ADHD.
In recent years, there has been a lot of focus on mental disorders, but it is difficult for people who do not have these disorders to understand what is going on.
It is difficult to describe what people with developmental disabilities actually feel and think, but we may be able to learn from the life models of people with developmental disabilities.
People with intellectual disabilities (mental retardation)
This term refers to cases in which there is clear below-average intellectual functioning (IQ below 70) and inadequate ability to adapt to life under the age of 18.
The term "retarded" is used to describe a person who has been diagnosed with mental retardation.
In the case of the Toraru child, he was able to comply with social norms and participate in group activities, but when it came to conversation, he turned his head.
In the case of the Toraru child, he was able to comply with social norms and take part in group activities, but when it came to conversation, he would turn his head down. It is thought that for this child, everything in his daily life was evaluated as "can do" or "can't do", and if he failed in conversation, he would be evaluated as "can't do", and this may have caused him to exhibit a hushed attitude.
In the next child's case, the question seemed to have started with the question, "I want to know how stupid I am, because even though I study hard, I only get about 10 points on tests, and I know I'm stupid, but I want to know how stupid I am.
Although this child is confronted with things he doesn't understand every time he takes a test or studies, he has a positive attitude about how to live with his current abilities. This is a positive attitude.
From the cases of these children, we can see the loss of self-confidence due to failure experiences, apathy, worries about what they can't do, and frustration, which leads to a sense of helplessness without high self-esteem.
Although this view is not the whole story, the psychology of people with intellectual disabilities may indicate this condition.
People with Pervasive Developmental Disorder
Characteristics such as social impairment, communication impairment, imagination and behavioral impairment, and sensory sensitivity are called pervasive developmental disorders.
Recently, the term "high-functioning autism" has been used to describe the absence of intelligence delays, and "Asperger syndrome" is used to describe the absence of language delays.
Pervasive developmental disorder is also a general term that combines autism and Asperger syndrome.
The following is an example of a boy with Asperger's syndrome.
One boy seemed to calmly state that he did not see the value in counseling, that he thought it was pointless, that he wanted to be left alone, and that he wanted to be thrown into the ocean without anyone's help.
The self-view of people with pervasive developmental disorder is not based on self-evaluation and self-esteem, which are indirectly evaluated by the world in which others exist.
According to Gunilla (1997), "None of the people around me seem to know what I need, so I have to make all the necessary moves to protect myself on my own. I don't know why it is so important and so obvious to me, but no one else does," he said.
People with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder
The diagnosis is considered when significant age-inappropriate hyperactivity, distractibility, and impulsivity are observed for a long period of time in all aspects of life.
In aspects understood as congenital central nervous system dysfunction, it is clinically classified as a developmental disorder.
I'm not sure what to do.
One man told me that he is most troubled by his inability to think clearly or well, and that it is as difficult as reading the notices on the platforms of passing stations while riding the bullet train.
Even when talking to people, he seems to be in a worm-eaten state, unable to hear everything that is being said in a blur.
Another man told me that sometimes during a conversation, his eyes would suddenly go blank and he would give a live answer, which was a moment when he had a very good idea, and he could not hear anything around him at that time.
As shown above, he talks while his mind is scattered in the middle of a conversation, and he is unable to hold a conversation because of the scatteredness.
Unlike people with pervasive developmental disorder, they seem to be able to visualize how to make things go smoothly, but are unable to achieve it, so they continue to experience a lack of accomplishment and lower self-esteem.
People with learning disabilities
It is a condition in which there is no delay in overall intellectual development, but significant difficulty in acquiring and performing certain of the abilities of listening, speaking, reading, writing, calculating, and reasoning.
It is defined as a condition in which a person shows significant difficulty in acquiring and performing specific skills in listening, speaking, reading, writing, calculating, and reasoning. It is thought to be caused by a disorder of the central nervous system, but it is not defined as an abnormality or disorder of the sensory organs, nor is it directly caused by environmental factors.
It is not directly caused by environmental factors.
One man said that his dyslexia was discovered in childhood, and he was told that he was being lazy for not being able to write Chinese characters. At the high school he attended, the teachers told him that he would not make friends even if he attended the high school, and that if people knew that he could not read or write Chinese characters, his friends would avoid him.
Another man said that he thought he was retarded for not being able to write no matter how hard he studied and tried, but at the same time, he was cheerful and depressed because he could realize that he was not so far behind.
Compulsory education can foster a certain level of academic ability, but for people with learning disabilities, the inability to read, write, and do math can make life difficult for those who don't have it, and they are considered to be lazy and not trying hard enough.
Even after being diagnosed with a disability, these people seem to be ashamed of their "lack of effort.
Effort to know
The aforementioned developmental disabilities have a variety of characteristics, and these are directly related to the difficulty of living in life situations.
There are some experts who will casually say that disabilities are individuality, but from the perspective of those who are affected, there are those who think that it is easy to say that they have suffered because of something they cannot do.
In order to get closer to the psychology of these people, we need to know their "subjective experience," which means getting closer to their experience of disability.
In the life of a person with a developmental disability, the goal is not the disappearance or overcoming of the disability, but the growth of the next power as they live their maximum each time, taking on what they cannot do now and managing to get by.
This is why development is an outcome and not a goal.
Psychology of Crime and Delinquency by Junko Fujioka
