Do mentally retarted people....?

Question

..know they are retarted?

what do they feel?

they seem like drunk people...why is this?

Answer 1

Some do know they are different from the average person; some don't have any idea. They feel sad when someone is mean to them, they are happy when they are loved & treated well. They miss their friends when they move, they are sad when a family member dies. They are proud when they accomplish something they have worked on for a long time, they are frustrated when they try to do something and can't. In other words, they have the same feelings as anyone else.

If you mean they sound like they are drunk, it could be because they have a thicker tongue and talking clearly is difficult, it could be because their brain was deprived of adequate oxygen when they were being born, and the language & speech part of the brain was damaged. They could walk like they're drunk because their muscles and tendons are much tighter than yours because of cerebral palsy, or other problems. It could be because they have to try 100 times harder than you to take a small step or speak a sentence. Whatever their issues are, remember they are still a lot like you inside and want the same respect, compassion, friendship, and love that anyone wants.

And by the way, in the 21st century, we call they developmentally delayed or mentally handicapped instead of mentally retarded. Hope this helps.

Answer 2

People with lower cognitive abilities are aware that other people can learn things faster than they can. They feel the same as you would, if you saw that you couldn't do what others could do easily. They feel sad, hurt, confused, frustrated, angry, etc.

Last year, one of my students (age 7) realized that he couldn't do what other children in his class could do. They all were reading books and writing stories, but he did not even know his ABC's. He said, "Me no read ever. Me dumb." He felt so hopeless and sad. Of course we talked about how everyone learns at their own pace and in their own time, but all the joy in this child just slowly died. This year, he did finally begin to read short sentences and he is so happy and proud of himself. He is more than 2 years behind his friends, but he will learn what they have learned. It will just be at a much slower pace.

These special people may also appear to be drunk, because they may have trouble with coordination and balance when they walk and with correctly pronouncing sounds when they speak. This may be due to related muscle weakness and coordination issues. They require physical therapy and speech therapy to help them in these areas. When they walk, they may bump into things or stumble or shuffle their feet. When they talk, they may slur their words or talk too loudly or leave out certain words.

Answer 3

When you are a little slow it is because you haven't found what interest you and people that are slow can feel it just like the retarded feel retarded by seeing how other people can do things.  I would never make fun of someone like that.  However neither slow or retarded should be snubbed .  Especially slow learners. Because they will be better when they get older.  I'm a firm believer that they can be absolutely smart when they find something they truly love and are interested in.

There are great succesful people who were slow in the years of school

Answer 4

It depends on how mentally retarted they are.Some of them are aware of their disability .ie that they have difficulty communicating.As for seeming like a drunk person:-Some mentally retarted people due to issues with balance due act like drunk people.

Answer 5

Both of the previous answers are right on!

As a mother of a developmentally delayed, or mildly retarded adult daughter I have lived through it all with her. At the moment she is extremely happy. She has a job as a maid in a senior health center where she works in a group with a job coach. She works five days a week, eight hours a day. She has a fiance' and they are planning on going on a cruise without any parents. Of course, they had to promise to stay on the ship. And her cousin has asked her to be a bridesmaid in her wedding. This weekend they are going to Las Vegas for the bachorette party. Life is good! But it isn't always good and when she hurts, I hurt too.



She knows she is developmentally delayed and can't do things that most adults do. She has feelings just like everyone else; however, she is not always reasonable. Yesterday, we went to a store without her, while she was at work, that she likes to go to and she maintained that we could not go without her no matter what.  She was very upset with us.

She doesn't speak differently than other people, but her boyfriend does. He had to have all his teeth pulled and went without teeth for several years. Since he and my daughter have been going together we helped him get teeth, but he can't get used to them now, because it has been so long that he went without them. Sometimes he is hard to understand.

I will say that California does take care of basic needs of qualifying disabled adults in most cases, but letting a person live without teeth seems inhumane to me.

Answer 6

I am a PWD (Person With Disabilities). I am also a parent of an adult child with Autism and Mental Retardation.

People With Mental Retardation are just like YOU in various aspects. They laugh, cry, sleep, eat, walk, talk, play, work, shop, live, have fun, have friends, have brothers and sisters, have parents and grandparents, have cousins, live within mainstream society, and etc, etc, and etc. Some get married and even have children. They have the same feelings as YOU have.    

Some people with Mental Retardation do know that they have Mental Retardation whereas others do not know they have Mental Retardation.  

It is a common occurrence that a person with a Speech Disability to be viewed as Mentally Retarded, or having Cerebral Palsy, or being Drunk, or even being viewed as a foreigner. People with Mental Retardation sometimes have a Speech Disability.    

You need to be aware of "People First Langauge" which is gaining popularity within the Intellectual And Developmental Disabilities Community and elsewhere within the Disability Community and various segments within mainstream society. "People First Langauage" is being passed into state law in various states.

These words are NOT used within People First Langauage.

1. "Mentally Retarded"

2. "Developmentally Delayed"

3. "Mentally Handicapped"

4. "Retarded"

5. "Special Needs"

6."Special Needs Children"  

The correct "People First Langauge" terms to use ARE these:

1. 'He/She has an Intellectual Disability"

2. "He/She has a Developmental Delay"

3. "He/She has a Cognitve Disability"

4. "He/She has Mental Retardation"

5. "Person With Mental Retardation"

6. "Children With Disabilities"

These phrases sound alot more better.

I hope that I was able to answer your questions to your sastifaction.