Intellectual Disability and Disabilities

Intellectual Disability INTELLECTUALDISABILITY| This paper will look into the subject matter of disability by examining a mental illness' mass media representation, i.e., Intellectual Disability in the movie, The Other Sister that is a 1999 romantic comedy movie. Carla Tate, a 22-year-old American female, has a mild mental deficiency. She goes back home to her rich family in California after getting a certificate from a secluded private boarding school. Carla's parents feel guilty for sending her away and Carl's greatest problem now is coping with her overprotective, snobby mother, Elizabeth.

More than anything else, Carla wishes to be responsible and independent. Later on, after pursuing a course in trade school, she meets a guy called Daniel who also has mental deficiency. Carla and Daniel became close, finally having a romantic relationship (Kantor, 2014). Case Study The movie, The Other Sister, focuses on Carla who goes back and tries to be independent and responsible in spite of her intellectual disability.

Additionally, the film also portrays the realistic reactions of the dealings and functioning of a family having a child that is mentally deficient. Elizabeth, Carla's mother, Elizabeth Tate, is at first presented as an overprotective mother, who is embarrassed by Carla, and who really cared about what everybody thought. She eventually let down her guard, defended Carla, and had a totally new attitude towards making her child happy. Radley Tate, Carla's father, is guilty of excessive drinking and sending away Carla in the first place.

He is, however, quite empathetic, always showing his daughter that he loves her, defends her, and sides with her in most decisions. Carla also has sisters who love her no matter what and challenge their mother, telling her that Carla is not a kid any longer and that she can actually be independent. We also get to see that Carla's lover, Daniel, has similar characteristics and loves Carla and she is the only individual who has completely accepted him and actually makes him feel like a human being.

On the other hand, other students in the same school as Carla are extremely negative; they make jokes and laugh at Carla and never treat her like any other human being (Kantor, 2014). Medical Profile Shea (2012) describes Intellectual disability (ID) as a general phrase for what has initially been defined as a psychological retardation. It is a permanent disorder that is characterized by considerable impairment of adaptive and cognitive development because of abnormalities of the brain function or structure.

ID is considered to be a generalized indicator of neurologic dysfunction and not a single entity. Currently, the terminology utilized with regards to ID (mental retardation) is shifting. The phrase mental retardation (MR) is still utilized in several settings, such as by various clinicians, and is present in public and legal policies which establish eligibility for support. The use of the phrase intellectual disability as a direct replacement is, however, increasing. The main reason behind the change is that the phrase mental retardation is seen as being derogatory.

By principle, for every level of intellectual disability, reduced IQ should be accompanied by shortfalls in the adaptive functions that include social, practical and conceptual skills. Social skills include interpersonal skills, social problem solving, and social judgment. Practical skills include occupational skills, ability to safely negotiate the world and access transport, and personal care together with other activities of daily living. Conceptual skills include literacy, numeracy success, language, and understanding of money and time.

A person with intellectual disability has delayed development, i.e., the sequence and pattern follow a usual order but a reduced pace and with restrictions with regards to the final achievement level (Rillota, 2012). According to Kantor (2014), IQ tests are used to measure intellectual disabilities. IDs are also measured by adaptive behavior.

Carla displays signs of issues with social development and perhaps attention, but she seems to have a somewhat mild type of intellectual disorder as she proves to be quite good at taking good care of herself as well as in maintaining relationships. In addition, we also observe that Carla has slow speech that is at times intelligible. She is quite honest and most of the times inappropriate when discussing various matters. She gets quite upset and believes that other people are laughing at her.

After meeting her lover, Daniel, who has the same characteristics but has a job and is independent, Carla also wants the same kind of responsibility. Mentally deficient people have significantly below average IQ and impairments in their adaptive behaviors. The gravity of MR varied between mild to profound. Daniel and Carla both suffer from a mild impairment that normally entails working and living independently, together with having families.

Additionally, language impairments are also related to mental development and at times, individuals in the borderline or mild classification are depicted as "slow." Treatment Psychological treatments are commonly utilized for the management of behavioral and mental health problems in individuals with intellectual disabilities. However, the psychotherapeutic approach in individuals having intellectual disabilities is controversial and the evidence base for psychological therapies' effectiveness is very limited.

Even though few randomized control trials (RCTs) have offered some proof for the efficiency of psychological interventions, the studies have been generally of poor quality for several reasons. The majority of these studies do not have sufficient numbers of participants, and thus quite difficult to come up with significant conclusions from the results. In spite of these limitations, various psychological interventions have actually proven to be effective including cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), psychodynamic psychotherapy, and behavioral approaches.

The meta-analysis of a few studies covering a broad range of psychotherapeutic approaches discovered that interventions like that only bring about a moderate quantity of change, and are also only somewhat effective. It was thus concluded that a variety of psychotherapeutic interventions ought to be considered as part of the whole treatment plan for individuals having intellectual disabilities (Bhaumik, Gangadharan, Hiremath & Russell, 2011).

In the film The Other Sister, we see that Carla was institutionalized for ten years at the Roseland School all because her mother thought that she required professional assistance. At this juncture, we can only presume that the professional assistance Carla received may have been psychological. Institutionalizing Carla actually harmed her. She became too self-conscious because of the boys who would make fun of her.

Furthermore, as a result of her institutionalization, she does not really know how to deal with social situations and so it is true to say that the interventions that were utilized did not quite assist her. It would have been even more effective to seek out professional help and conduct more research on the best interventions which Carla could have utilized than to be restricted to common psychological methods which are typically used on individuals with this type of disabilities (Kantor, 2014).

Shea (2012) mentions that support for enhancing communication skills is important for optimizing results for people with intellectual disabilities and ought to be an active part of their academic programming. Regular re-evaluation is required, looking at enunciation, understanding, adequacy and lucidity of verbal expressions, as well as pragmatic language use. Another important part of programming for people having ID is social skills and they ought to include basics of social communication, grooming, manners, as well as the creation and maintenance of friendships.

A lot of people having ID will not attain complete independence or standard employment, the preparation they get all through their childhood and teenage years will help them in attaining their optimal life quality. Up to this end, academic programs should broadly look at the skill sets required to maximize self-sufficiency within the community. It has been proven that the quality of life for grownups having intellectual deficiency partly correlates with leisure time skills, and these ought to be actively cultivated (Shea, 2012).

Healthcare providers should also support this particularly vulnerable group. We live in a society that discriminates on the basis of alleged intellectual value. This standpoint is absolutely not acceptable. All of us have an obligation to make sure that every individual, even including those with intellectual deficiencies, receive appropriate optimal healthcare and suitable education, that the rights to give assent and consent are always taken into consideration, and that every individual has the chance to live a complete and satisfying life in all development stages.

Pediatricians could assist at the individual, family, and even community levels by establishing areas where extra opportunities or support are required and by working with others to help in meeting those needs. In this scenario, treatment facilities are very helpful in the treatment procedure of individuals having ID. For instance, the Springbrook Behavioral Health Centre in South Carolina, Georgia, offers an Adult Inpatient Psychiatry unit that is well staffed with sufficiently experienced experts (Shea, 2012).

Vocational Profile In the movie, we get to understand that Carla earned a certificate from a secluded and protected private boarding school. Additionally, we also see that she is lucky enough to have a rich family back in California that gives her the support she needs. Carla also takes a course at a trade school and hopes to be a veterinarian assistant someday. Her particular interest in animals is indirectly reveled in one scene where she starts barking at the dogs in a do shelter celebration.