Intellectual Disabilities Across the Lifespan

Text: Intellectual Disabilities Across the Lifespan, Drew & Hardman (2007)

1. The field of study on intellectual disabilities (ID) has evolved throughout history. It has been widely influenced by economic, societal, and situational factors. One of the societal issues in the early 1900’s was sterilization.

(a) Discuss the Kallikak family as studied by Goddard (1913).

(b) Search the internet and locate information on Carrie and Emma Buck, a famous eugenics sterilization case (1927). Give a summary of the Buck case. ihttp://www.eugenicsarchive.org/html/eugenics/essay8text.html

2. The causes of ID appear to stem from biomedical, environmental, and societal origins. Approximately 20% of cases are deemed biomedical (such as Down Syndrome and other genetic disorders), with the remaining 80% of cases being virtually unknown.

(a) Discuss potential environmental causes.

(b) Discuss potential societal causes.