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Characteristics of people with intellectual disabilitiesBack

Although people with intellectual disabilities are deficient in intelligence, they have thoughts and feelings just like ordinary people, and they need concern and acceptance from others. They also desire chances of demonstrating their abilities as a way to affirm their own worth. Due to their relatively low cognitive ability, they encounter greater difficulty in learning language, knowledge and skills. Special teaching and training methods have to be used. In respect of personality, they are on the whole simple and straightforward; however, some of them are emotional and tend to settle their negative emotions by some violent behaviour, such as yelling or hitting objects.