Mental Retardation

Abstract:

Mental retardation is a specialist area of clinical psychology practice that aims to promote improved quality of life for individuals with mental retardation and their families. To promote improved quality of life for children and adolescents with mental retardation and their families, clinical psychologists require a range of basic and expert competencies. This chapter delineates essential areas of basic and expert competencies that will enable psychologists to be more successful in this specialized area of clinical practice. Emphasis is given to the implementation of evidence-based assessments and treatments for children and adolescents with mental retardation. With respect to assessment, the basic competencies include: (a) recognition and assessment of symptoms, (b) familiarity with contemporary definitions and classification systems, (c) intelligence testing, (d) adaptive behavior assessment, and (e) an understanding of how genetic syndromes, learning