AAMR CLASSIFICATION SYSTEMS

AAMR CLASSIFICATION SYSTEMS Founded in 1876, the American Association on Mental Retardation (AAMR) is the world’s oldest and largest interdisciplinary organization of professionals concerned about Mental Retardation. With headquarters in Washington, DC, the AAMR has a constituency of more than 50,000 people and an active core membership in the United States and in 55 other countries. The mission of the AAMR is to promote progressive policies, sound research, effective practices, and universal rights for people with intellectual disabilities. The AAMR has led the fi eld of developmental disabilities by officially defining the condition known as Mental Retardation. A diagnostic and classifi cation system remains important in today’s society because it is used to determine who can access publicly funded services and supports. The AAMR has updated the defi nition of Mental Retardation 10 times since 1908. Changes in the defi nition have occurred when there is new information, or there are changes in clinical practice or breakthroughs in scientifi c research. The 10th edition of Mental Retardation: Definition, Classification, and Systems of Supports (AAMR, 2002) contains a comprehensive update to the landmark 1992 system and provides important new information, tools, and strategiesfor the fi eld and for anyone concerned about people with mental retardation. The 10th edition discusses the 2002 AAMR defi nition and classifi cation system in great detail. It presents the latest thinking about Mental Retardation and includes important tools and strategies to determine if an individual has Mental Retardation along with detailed information about developing a personal plan of individualized supports. It is available from the AAMR through their web site at http: // www.aamr.org / bookstore / or by calling 301- 604- 1340. The overall AAMR defi nition of Mental Retardation is that it is a disability characterized by signifi cant limitations both in intellectual functioning and in adaptive behavior as expressed in conceptual, social, and practical adaptive skills. This disability originates before the age of 18. The AAMR considers fi ve assumptions that are essential to the application of this definition: 1. Limitations in present functioning must be considered within the context of community environments typical of the individual’s age peers and culture. 2. Valid assessment considers cultural and linguistic diversity as well as differences in communication, sensory, motor, and behavioral factors. 3. Within an individual, limitations often coexist with strengths. 4. An important purpose of describing limitations is to develop a profi le of needed supports. 5. With appropriate personalized supports over a sustained period, the life functioning of the person with Mental Retardation generally will improve (AAMR, 2002). A complete and accurate understanding of Mental Retardation involves realizing that Mental Retardation refers to a particular state of functioning that begins in childhood, has many dimensions, and is affected positively by individualized supports. As a model of functioning, it includes the contexts and environment within which the person functions and interacts and requires a multidimensional and ecological approach that refl ects the interaction of the individual with the environment and the outcomes of that interaction with regards to independence, relationships, societal contributions, participation in school and community, and personal well- being. Adaptive behavior is the collection of conceptual, social, and practical skills that people have learned so they can function in their everyday lives. Signifi cant limitations in adaptive behavior impact a person’s daily life and affect the ability to respond to a particular situation or to the environment. Limitations in adaptive behavior can be determined by using standardized tests that are normed on the general population, including people with disabilities and people without disabilities. On these standardized measures, sigfor the fi eld and for anyone concerned about people with mental retardation. The 10th edition discusses the 2002 AAMR defi nition and classifi cation system in great detail. It presents the latest thinking about Mental Retardation and includes important tools and strategies to determine if an individual has Mental Retardation along with detailed information about developing a personal plan of individualized supports. It is available from the AAMR through their web site at http: // www.aamr.org / bookstore / or by calling 301- 604- 1340. 2 standard deviations below the mean of either (1) one of the following three types of adaptive behavior: conceptual, social, or practical, or (2) an overall score on a standardized measure of conceptual, social, and practical skills (AAMR, 2002). Table 1 includes some specifi c examples of adaptive behavior skills. The concept of supports originated about 15 years ago with the AAMR, and it has revolutionized the way habilitation and education services are provided to persons with Mental Retardation. Rather than mold individuals into preexisting diagnostic categories and force them into existing models of service, the supports approach evaluates the specific needs of the individual and then suggests strategies, services, and supports that will optimize individual functioning. The supports approach also recognizes that individual needs and circumstances will change over time. Supports were an innovative aspect of the 1992 AAMR manual, and they remain critical in the 2002 system. In 2002, they have been dramatically expanded and improved to reflect significant progress over the last decade. Supports are defi ned as the resources and individual strategies necessary to promote the development, education, interests, and personal well- being of a person with Mental Retardation. Supports can be provided by a parent, friend, teacher, psychologist, and doctor or by any appropriate person or agency. Providing individualized supports can improve personal functioning, promote self- determination and societal inclusion, and improve personal well- being ofa person with Mental Retardation. Focusing on supports as the way to improve education, employment, recreation, and living environments is an important part of personcentered approaches to providing supports to people with Mental Retardation. The AAMR recommends that an individual’s need for supports be analyzed in at least nine key areas: human development, teaching and education, home living, community living, employment, health and safety, behavioral, social, and protection and advocacy.