An examination of specific daily living skills deficits in adults with profound intellectual disabilities.
Adults with profound ID lose community skills first and fastest after 60, so front-load safety plans and keep goals to personal care.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Researchers looked at the adults living in state-run homes. All had profound intellectual disability.
They scored each person on 459 daily-living skills. The list covered personal care, house jobs, and community tasks like using money.
What they found
Personal skills stayed strongest. Most adults could wash hands and use a spoon.
House skills were weaker. Few could vacuum or make a sandwich. Community skills were lowest. Almost none could cross a street alone.
After age 60 every area dropped, but community skills fell fastest.
How this fits with other research
Sturmey et al. (1996) warned that aging adults with ID need dementia screens. C et al. now show which skills vanish first, giving you a baseline for those screens.
Busch et al. (2010) found adults with ID plus autism and epilepsy score far worse on social tests. C et al. agree the gap is largest in community skills, but show even ID-only adults have little street-crossing skill.
Laugeson et al. (2014) showed small IQ gains lift kids' daily skills. C et al. flip the view: once IQ is very low, age matters more than extra IQ points.
Why it matters
Stop teaching street crossing to young learners with profound ID; the data say it won't stick. Spend staff time on personal care that stays longer and keeps dignity intact. Use the steep community drop after 60 as your cue to start guardianship and safety plans.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
While some researchers have investigated daily living skills deficits in individuals with intellectual disability (ID) as a whole, research on specific daily living skills in a profound ID population is limited. Two hundred and four adults with profound ID residing in two large developmental centers in the southeast portion of the United States were studied. Data were collected on these individuals' daily living skills, utilizing the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales (VABS). Three dependent t-tests were conducted comparing the proportion of items endorsed by informants on each of the three subdomains of daily living skills on the VABS (personal, domestic, and community). A significantly larger proportion of Personal Subdomain items were endorsed compared to Domestic or Community Subdomain items. Additionally, participants exhibited a significantly larger proportion of Domestic Skills Subdomain items compared to Community Skills Subdomain items which is consistent with theoretical models suggesting that institutional living may curb broader community skill sets. No gender differences were found in daily living skills. Lastly, individuals between the ages 30 and 39 exhibited significantly more Personal Subdomain skills than individuals who were 60 or older, while participants between the ages 30 and 39 exhibited significantly more Domestic Subdomain skills than individuals between the ages 60 and 69.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2013 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2012.09.021