Journal of Intellectual Disability - Diagnosis and Treatment

85-95

Authors: Monika Parchomiuk

Author’s research discussed in the following article was aimed at determining which model of intellectual disability is preferred by teachers and students, and what the differences are between these respondents in this respect. The assumptions characteristic for the individual model focused on the person with disability, and in particular, on his or her biological (physical) defects. The defects that caused limitations in functioning were treated as the basis of disability. Professional activities (mostly medical) focused on adjusting to the state of limited functioning, seen in a reductionist way: as accepting the loss of ability or independence. The social model situated the origin of disability in society. In this perspective, it defined disability as the product of specific social and economic structures, and its main interest focused on the problems of oppression and discrimination of persons with disability. Research was carried out with special needs teachers who work with individuals with intellectual disability, teachers working with able-bodied individuals, and students of special pedagogy. The Likert type scale, called “The model of an intellectual disability”, was used to determine the model of intellectual disability. The research had a cognitive goal but also a significant practical goal related to the specialists’ professional training. The article offers general recommendations for shaping attitudes and assessments connected with noticing possibilities in the lives of individuals with intellectual disability, taking into account the influence of environmental factors

103-112

Authors: D.M. Rivera-Oliveros, L.M. Rico-Navarro, M.R. Acosta-Barreto

The aim of this research was to compare the neuropsychological performance of executive functions of school children in a state of malnutrition caused by thinness and risk of thinness and a control group of a District educational institution of the locality of Ciudad Bolívar in Bogotá, Colombia. The research used a descriptive cross-sectional comparative design, where children aged between 7 and 12 years were selected based on the diagnosis of malnutrition. The executive functions assessed were fluency, working memory, problem solving, inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility, through the Neuropsychological Battery for Children [ENI, for its Spanish acronym] and the original version of Stroop and Wisconsin tests. Results showed statistically significant differences in executive functioning between the children with thinness, thinness risk and the control group. The students with thinness showed a low performance in verbal fluency, visual fluency, working memory, cognitive flexibility and inhibitory control compared with students in a state of malnutrition due to thinness risk and those with normal weight (control group). In conclusion, a strong association was found between the effect of child malnutrition and poor performance in executive tasks where there is evidence that executive functioning is more affected in children with malnutrition due to thinness (severe malnutrition) than in children with malnutrition due to thinness risk and in those of the control group.