OF MENTAL RETARDATION General Overview The Institute for the Study of Mental Retardation is the outgrowth of recommendations from a two-year faculty and administration committee appointed in 1963 to assess The University of Michigan's role in meeting the problems of mental retardation. The Institute was established by The Regents of The University of Michigan in June, 1966. The Institute will be instrumental in fostering interdisciplinary training of all fields concerned with mental retardation and related health problems. It will achieve this primary goal through a program consisting of 1) manpower training and development, 2) exemplary clinical services, and 3) research and evaluation. The acute shortage of trained personnel in mental retardation has led the Institute to place its primary emphasis on manpower training and development. This phase of activities is concerned with a preservice education program that trains professional and non-professional staff members of the various facilities; with a continuing education program that keeps the staff up to date with the current concepts of mental retardation; with an adult education program that informs parents, volunteers, community leaders, and employers about mental retardation; and with a materials development program that devises materials about retardation to be used in training programs for personnel as well as materials for use with retarded individuals. The highly specialized services which are required in diagnosing, evaluating, treating, educating, training, and caring for the mentally retarded are an integral part of the training role assumed by the Institute and are being developed. Another equally important aspect of the Institute is the cooperative development of field settings in which primary consideration is given to the agency's and community's ability to support the program. This will enable such programs to be replicated in other areas through local funding and fiscal structures. The research programs of the Institute, both disciplinary and interdisciplinary, will be directed at uncovering the causes of mental retardation; at developing a more meaningful taxonomy of the different syndromes of mental retardation; and at elucidating the basic biological and behavioral processes characterizing these syndromes. In addition, the research thrust will be aimed at evaluating how best to apply and disseminate this knowledge to the care, rehabilitation, and education of the mentally retarded. As part of the research effort, an evaluation program will also be carried out to asses and improve the Institute's operations. This program will attempt to increase the cost effectiveness of the Institute's operations, maintain a balance among the Institute's programs and resources, and develop evaluation models for the Institute and other organizations. ISMR AND THE BROAD VIEW OF MENTAL RETARDATION The definition of mental retardation used by the American Association on Mental Deficiency ("Mental retardation refers to a significant sub-average intellectual functioning which originates during the developmental period and is associated with impairment in adaptive behavior") is the Institute's starting point. Also included as part of the Institute's concerns are the issues of related neurological involvement and problems of the multiply handicapped where mental retardation is associated with visual and auditory impairment, prematurity and congenital malformations, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, neuropsychiatric disturbances, speech disabilities, or any other physical disabilities. Finally, components related to psychological problems and social or environmental deprivation are also within the Institute's scope of its concept of mental retardation. Programming in this area will provide services for high risk children from disadvantaged environments and will include individuals from this background. Programs will be designed to help train students to work effectively with these populations and to evaluate the effectiveness of various service patterns. THE INCIDENCE OF MENTAL RETARDATION Scope Of The Retardation Problem In The U.S. -retardation afflicts nearly 6 million Americans -retardations afflicts 10 times as many persons as diabetes -retardation afflicts 20 times as many persons as T.B. -retardation afflicts 600 times as many persons as polio -One family in 5 is affected -126,000 children are born every year (one every 5 minutes) who will be diagnosed as retarded To meet the needs of some of these people, ISMR will establish service models including an Experimental Study and Training Unit, a Demonstration School Unit, and a Cooperative Clinical Service Unit. These units will train personnel while providing care and treatment for retardates in need of the services of the Institute. Since it is apparent that the present system employed in the United States neither fully meets the needs of the retarded nor provides sufficient manpower for this purpose, the Institute will attack both of these areas. Traditional Estimates Of 3% Are Probably Low Because They Generally Do Not Include Such Factors As: Cultural Deprivation Physical Disabilities ISMR PROGRAMS are focused primarily on the young, but will be involved with programming at all age levels. The overall emphasis will be on developing, for teaching purposes, interlocking patterns of services to meet the life-long needs of retardates. Training and service models will be established in southeastern Michigan, but should have direct application to programs throughout the state. The Institute will work with community agencies anywhere in the state to develop interdisciplinary services for retarded children designed to serve as models for replication elsewhere and based on realistic tax and fiscal programs of the local communities. Retardation And Cultural Deprivation -Lack of Health Care -Children of low income groups have fewer routine physical exams; therefore, handicapping conditions may go undetected. -As reported by the President's Committee on Mental Retardation in M.R. Children Under Age 17 Who Had At Least One -45% of all women who have babies in public hospitals receive no prenatal care. -The infant mortality rate in low income groups is nearly double that of other income groups. -A child from a low income or rural area is 15 times as likely to be mentally retarded as a child from a higher income family. -75% of the nation's mentally retarded are found in urban and rural slums. -Lack of Intellectual Achievement -Selective Service System rejection rates for intellectual underachievement are 23% overall and 60% among some low income groups. -3 times as many low income children fail in school as children from other income groups. ISMR WILL STUDY AND COMBAT RETARDATION LINKED WITH PHYSICAL DISABILITIES AND NEUROLOGICAL IMPAIRMENTS Retardation And Physical Disabilities -Approximately 3 million American children are physically handicapped; many of them are intellectually retarded as well. For example: -approximately 75% of all children with cerebral palsy are, to some degree, retarded in their intellectual development. -approximately 88% of athetoid cerebral palsy children, and 50% of all hemiplegics, have perceptual disturbances which affect learning and intellectual development. -approximately 30% of blind children are, to some degree, intellectually retarded. Retardation And Neurological Impairments -10% of live births are premature. Of these, approximately 50% will have serious sensory, mental, and/or motor disabilities which will impair school learning. -Slightly more than 7% of newborn children are found to be neurologically damaged or defective by the 4th week after birth. -Approximately 12-15% of 12-month old babies are found or suspected to be neurologically deviant. -Slightly more than 8% of babies at 12 months of age have audiomotor disabilities. The majority of these do not have hearing losses. -Communication specialists with Operation Head Start have observed serious language and speech retardation in children served by this program. ISMR, in conjunction with the schols and colleges of The University of Michigan and county and state health facilities, will implement programs and services to achieve specific patient-centered goals. These objectives may be achieved through one or several of the following disciplines: ISMR AND THE STATE OF MICHIGAN PLAN The Institute is closely related to the state of Michigan plan to combat mental retardation. This plan for action includes the following areas: -Manpower Training and Development -Prevention And Diagnosis -Education And Training -Vocational Rehabilitation -Social Services -Residential Care -Research Development -Implementation The plans for the Institute for the Study of Mental Retardation include all of these areas, but especially: -Manpower Training And Development —Pre-service training for the professional and non-professional working with the mentally retarded -Continuing education to update knowledge of specialists and general practitioners -Adult education for parents, volunteers, community leaders, and employers -Materials development for training programs in universities and other agencies -Services -Consultation in planning, developing, and operating exemplary -Development of model services in selected communities -Research -Basic, to expand understanding of the etiology and nature -Applied, to assess and improve services to the retarded |