What are cognitive delays?

Some individuals may have delays in their Intellectual skills. Intellectual skills can also be called cognitive skills and are measured by someone in the field of psychology (psychologist, psychological examiner.)  An intelligence test allows us to compare the child’s cognitive skills to other children the same age to see if there are delays.  Often a child’s adaptive skills are also tested.  Adaptive skills are skills that we use to navigate the world around us.  Examples of this include:  feeding ourselves; being able to follow directions; understanding what do to in an emergency.  By looking at both intelligence and adaptive abilities, psychologists can determine if a person has an Intellectual Disability (ID).  People who have Intellectual Disabilities may have delays in things such as mental abilities, reasoning skills, problem solving, judgement, academic skills, ability to learn from experience, and the ability to take care of themselves in their daily life.

Click on these links to learn more about Intellectual Disabilities 

American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (http://aaidd.org/intellectual-disability/definition#.WLh9t7HnZ9M)