Cognitive Development and Intellectual Disability: An Essay

This essay delves into the intricate world of human development, with a specific focus on cognitive abilities in children and adults grappling with intellectual developmental disorders. The paper examines the varied trajectories of cognitive skill development in these populations, highlighting how these abilities emerge through the lens of Piaget's stages of thinking. It underscores the importance of adaptations in social, occupational, and daily activities to support individuals with intellectual disabilities. The essay also investigates the incidence and prevalence of intellectual disability, emphasizing the differences between children and adults. Furthermore, it explores the application of Piaget's theoretical framework to understand cognitive development in children with Down syndrome and adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder, discussing the challenges and adaptive strategies associated with these conditions.

Running head: INTRODUCTION TO HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
INTRODUCTION TO HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author note:

1INTRODUCTION TO HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
Intellectual disability further regarded as Intellectual Developmental Disorder is
characterised by significant restrictions in general mental abilities as well as adaptive functioning
that occur during the course of children’s development. Individuals with Intellectual
development reflect considerably low intellectual functioning and further illustrate relative issues
in perceiving as well as processing any new information in rapid and efficient way (Bjorklund &
Causey, 2017). It is to be noted that children who experience lower socio economic adversity and
belong to the vulnerable position of social deprivation often show early interruption or setback in
cognitive development (Cook et al., 2017). The essay will intend to cast light on the way
cognitive abilities develop differently in children and adults with intellectual developmental
disorder. Furthermore, the paper will focus on the way development of cognitive skills emerge
though Piaget’s stages of thinking and further utilize adaptations to underpin social, occupational
and regular activities.
The incidence and prevalence of Intellectual Disability vary by age. The rate of
Intellectual Disability has been observed to have more recurrently among school age children,
adolescents in comparison to adult population. It is further to note that if all adults in a settlement
are evaluated for the occurrence of Intellectual Disability, the pervasiveness can be estimated of
around 1.25%. On the other hand, if school children are diagnosed, the rate of prevalence
increases to more than 2% (Gee, 2014). It is further to consider that the rates of cognitive
disabilities related to Intellectual Disability are more prevalent when individuals visit schools.
The rate of children with intellectual disabilities in recent times has been elevating dramatically
across the world. The World Health Organizations (WHO) has classified the core cognitive
development into the levels of mild, moderate and severe (Crain, 2015). It is further to note that
children with intellectual development disorder often possess several distinctiveness that pose

2INTRODUCTION TO HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
restrictions for them in the process of their development. Children suffering from such disorders
are reported to have an underdeveloped physical growth, deformation along with delayed
movement and balance. However, several investigations have demonstrated the significant
impact in the digital learning processes and the importance of collaborative activity sessions
(Sigelman & Rider, 2014). These learning sessions have proved to have improved the cognitive
experiences of children. On the other hand it is important to note that adults with intellectual
development disorder tend to experience traumatic social communication and often implement
maladaptive strategies to overcome and further sustain these social interactions (Gomez‐Pinilla
& Hillman, 2013). The experience of stress and anxiety has posed severe effects on the
psychological welfare of adults with intellectual disability. The coping strategies utilized by
adults has been further defined as the cognitive as well as behavioural efforts implemented in
order to manage the demands posed by several external and internal factors related to traumatic
situations or the emotions relative to such circumstances (Segal, Chipman & Glaser, 2014). At
this juncture, it is significant to note that the concept of ‘active coping’, defined as the efforts to
gain authority over stressful circumstances was ineffectively associated with to psychological
distress whereby the concept of ‘avoidant coping’ came into significance (Whalon et al., 2015).
The two vital magnitudes of avoidant coping have been commonly recognized among adults
with ID namely behavioural avoidance coping which is related to being distant from stressful
circumstances involving efforts to physically avoid such situations on the contrary cognitive
avoidance coping has been identified as strategies that incorporates efforts to circumvent or
further avoid to develop thoughts of stress (Lindenberger & Mayr, 2014). Children with intense
intellectual disability have been observed to have recognized in the early phase of infancy.
Around half of the children with such profound intellectual development disorder will require

3INTRODUCTION TO HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
consistent assistance and support from others in the course of their development. However, the
sections of adults with these disorders who require incessant support and help from family as
well as caregivers demonstrate chronic and unceasing medical issues and sensory impairments
(Cook et al., 2017). It is to note that effective diagnosis of ID is resolute by the intelligence and
adaptive functioning of both children and adults. Individuals and children both can reflect ID but
have varied perceptions and responses towards it. For instance, a child aged 9 years might be
suffering from Down syndrome and on the other hand an elderly suffering from similar disorder
might have no recognizable cause of such impairments (Memari et al., 2013).
In the earlier days it has been perceived that individuals with ID supposedly to have
benefitted from sessions of psychotherapy. However, mental condition and disabilities experts
have identified such therapeutic measures as ineffective to be a misinterpretation of abilities of
individuals with cognitive incapability to achieve expertise and further reduce symptoms of
emotional or mental disorders in the course of these curative sessions. The establishment of the
co-occurrence of these emotional health disorders in individuals both children and adults with ID
has resulted to more explicit diagnosis approaches (Lindenberger & Mayr, 2014). The American
Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD) which has been referred as
a conventional professional organization is dedicated to the observation and assistance of
individuals with cognitive impairments (Memari et al., 2013). The AAIDD has been promoting
effective cure through observation, advocacy and induction. The organization since the 1900s
have been offered certain procedures and guidelines for the effective recognition of Intellectual
Disability and the most effective techniques to support children as well as adults with this
condition (Wright, Masten & Narayan, 2013). However, there lies one distinction in the
conceptualization of Intellectual Disability that further accentuates on the concept of needed

4INTRODUCTION TO HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
support. This concept has been further referred to a wide range of assistance and aid that would
help the individuals to function and react in effectual manners in their daily lives. Furthermore,
the AAIDD authorizes four potential levels of supports that are based on the degree and the
duration of assistance required for aid and support to these individuals namely the intermittent
regarded as occasional in time of crisis or predicament, limited known as short term, widespread
or extensive that is long term and pervasive also referred as constant (Smith & Pourchot, 2013).
The AAIDD has further introduced a semi-structured consultation to assist clinicians or experts
to identify the type and strength of assistance and supports required for children, adolescents and
adults with Intellectual Development Disorder (Lindenberger & Mayr, 2014). These approaches
introduced by AAIDD in order to categorize individuals with ID in relation of needed aid and
supports has produced two primary advantages whereby the first approach expresses detailed
information of clients rather than producing effective categorization of the individuals with ID.
On the other hand, the second approach concentrates on the individuals’ competences rather than
on their impairments (Cook et al., 2017).
Delay in the growth and development of cognitive skills and capacities are considered to
be primary consequences of Down syndrome (Wright, Masten & Narayan, 2013). Regardless to
these cognitive impediments, children or young children with ID of Down syndrome can be
regarded as emphatic, demonstrative and engaging. It is important to consider that not only the
potentialities of considerably autonomous ‘domain specific’ developmental courses for certain
social and cognitive abilities but further to function to the extent to which cognitive as well as
social developmental aptitudes, which further appear primarily to develop relatively in
autonomous manner to each other come in interaction with as well as mutually manipulate one
another and further lead to innovative developmental results (Gee, 2014). It must be noted that

5INTRODUCTION TO HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
children with Down syndrome reveal radical differences in the level of competence and ability
whereby some being immensely handicapped whereas the others with moderate, reasonable or
occasional learning difficulties, further expose clearly that the cognitive growth and development
in the group of children might not be predetermined since birth of the individuals. However,
there has been a significant gap in the process of comprehending the process of developmental in
children with Down syndrome, probably because of a distinctive decline in the IQ scores of
children with further development (Smith, Cowie & Blades, 2015). Children with Down
syndrome face prolonged steady developmental advancement, but as the progression level is
slower than ordinary children, their concrete IQ score reveals to be comparatively lower over the
time. It has been further noted that psychologists typically produce immensely complex,
specialized language explanation in order to comprehend the study of concept from the
theoretical framework of Piaget. The theoretical framework of Piaget has further provided
adequate stages of thinking in the process of development of cognitive skills in children with
Down syndrome (Meadows, 2013). Piaget believed that children at about 18 months are capable
to establish symbolic illustrations and as a consequence is related to cognitive skills development
that involves vocabulary development, symbolic play as well as deferred restrictions all of which
require the effective representation of a component to create symbolic representations before the
completion of two years (Gee, 2014). However, it can further be proposed that the fundamental
changes at the age of 18 months are regarded as the capability to raise certain hypothetical
demonstrations about events which have never been experienced by the children (Sappok et al.,
2013). Piaget’s theoretical framework offers details of three deposits of distinctive relations
between cognition and speech, whereby one relation involves an association between the
implementation of cognitive relational words about desertion along with the competence to pass

6INTRODUCTION TO HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
object-permanence operations which require children to comprehend that an object can be
situated in several locations (Piaget, 2013). A second and similar relation is considered to be
situated in between cognitive relational words that depict an understanding of success or failure
related to any event and also the competence to pass means-ends performance whereby children
have to select strategy that would produce the most effective outcomes (Berk, 2017).
Furthermore, the third link is considered to be situated in between the abilities to organize
objects into separate groups along with the vocabulary as this frequent and hurried development
of vocabulary is proposed to be based on the level of ability of the children with Down syndrome
(Smith, Cowie & Blades, 2015).
It has noted that individuals often exhibit social, communication as well as cognitive
insufficient characteristics with Autism Spectrum Disorders. In Piagetian theoretical frameworks,
it is further developed that a structural outline of thoughts or schema is developed whereby social
events are incorporated with misrepresentation such that social world is restructured as a hostile
situation for inhabitation. It can further be argued that developmental delay or the pathology of
thought structure have been further shaped the altered structural outline of the cognitive social
representation (Berk, 2017). According to the Piaget, cognitive schema has further
accommodated as maturational aspects of brain development that interact with socially-produced
information specifically as the consequence of social transactions with the peer groups. It must
further be noted that the concept of brain pathology in autism may develop interaction with
insufficient social learning scopes and opportunities (Meadows, 2013). The abnormal growth in
the realm of Piaget’s theory has shed light on the capture, which is the inability to develop
through the hypothesized stages of cognitive development in adults.

7INTRODUCTION TO HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
Therefore, from the above discussion it can be concluded that the progress of cognitive
skills and capabilities have varied occurrences in children and adults with intellectual
developmental disorders. However, the essay has further focused on the ways certain adaptations
can be applied in order to aid and strengthen the individuals with such disorders in social and
daily activities. Furthermore, it has also focused on the cognitive developmental abilities of
children with Down syndrome and adults with Autism Syndrome Disorder.

8INTRODUCTION TO HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
References
Berk, L. (2017). Development through the lifespan. Pearson Education India.
Bjorklund, D. F., & Causey, K. B. (2017). Children's thinking: Cognitive development and
individual differences. SAGE Publications.
Cook, A., Spinazzola, J., Ford, J., Lanktree, C., Blaustein, M., Cloitre, M., ... & Mallah, K.
(2017). Complex trauma in children and adolescents. Psychiatric annals, 35(5), 390-398.
Crain, W. (2015). Theories of development: Concepts and applications. Psychology Press.
Gee, J. (2014). Social linguistics and literacies: Ideology in discourses. Routledge.
Gomez‐Pinilla, F., & Hillman, C. (2013). The influence of exercise on cognitive
abilities. Comprehensive Physiology.
Lindenberger, U., & Mayr, U. (2014). Cognitive aging: is there a dark side to environmental
support?. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 18(1), 7-15.
Meadows, S. (2013). Parenting behaviour and children's cognitive development. Psychology
Press.
Memari, A. H., Ziaee, V., Shayestehfar, M., Ghanouni, P., Mansournia, M. A., & Moshayedi, P.
(2013). Cognitive flexibility impairments in children with autism spectrum disorders:
links to age, gender and child outcomes. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 34(10),
3218-3225.
Piaget, J. (2013). The construction of reality in the child (Vol. 82). Routledge.

9INTRODUCTION TO HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
Sappok, T., Budczies, J., Bölte, S., Dziobek, I., Dosen, A., & Diefenbacher, A. (2013).
Emotional development in adults with autism and intellectual disabilities: A
retrospective, clinical analysis. PloS one, 8(9), e74036.
Segal, J. W., Chipman, S. F., & Glaser, R. (2014). Thinking and learning skills: Volume 1:
relating instruction to research. Routledge.
Sigelman, C. K., & Rider, E. A. (2014). Life-span human development. Cengage Learning.
Smith, M. C., & Pourchot, T. (Eds.). (2013). Adult learning and development: Perspectives from
educational psychology. Routledge.
Smith, P. K., Cowie, H., & Blades, M. (2015). Understanding children's development. John
Wiley & Sons.
Whalon, K. J., Conroy, M. A., Martinez, J. R., & Werch, B. L. (2015). School-based peer-related
social competence interventions for children with autism spectrum disorder: A meta-
analysis and descriptive review of single case research design studies. Journal of autism
and developmental disorders, 45(6), 1513-1531.
Wright, M. O. D., Masten, A. S., & Narayan, A. J. (2013). Resilience processes in development:
Four waves of research on positive adaptation in the context of adversity. In Handbook of
resilience in children (pp. 15-37). Springer, Boston, MA.