Intellectual Disability (ID)

📖 Overview

Intellectual disability (ID) — also called learning disability in the UK — means a person has significant difficulties with learning, understanding new information, and managing everyday tasks independently. These difficulties are present from childhood and affect daily life in a lasting way.

Intellectual disability ranges from mild to profound. A person with mild ID may live largely independently with some support. A person with profound and multiple learning disabilities (PMLD) may need support with all aspects of daily life. The range is vast and every person is an individual with their own strengths, preferences, and personality.

Intellectual disability is often caused by genetic conditions (such as Down syndrome, Fragile X, or Angelman syndrome), brain development differences, birth complications, or acquired brain injury. In many cases no cause is identified.

People with intellectual disabilities have the same rights as everyone else — to relationships, to work, to healthcare, to have their voices heard, to be safe. They are significantly more likely to experience poor mental health, physical health conditions going undetected, abuse, and poverty. These are failures of systems and society, not inevitable features of intellectual disability.

Person-centred planning — where the individual leads decisions about their own life — is the foundation of good support. Communication support, whether through AAC, Makaton, easy-read materials, or supported communication, enables people to express preferences and make decisions.