Why Adults with Severe Intellectual Disability Need Around-the-Clock Care
Severe intellectual disability, diagnosed with an IQ in the 20-39 range and low adaptive skills, often requires continuous support, even once adulthood is reached. This necessity arises from a combination of heightened risk factors and limited daily living skills. This article explores the reasons behind the need for around-the-clock care for individuals with severe intellectual disabilities, highlighting the potential risks and the importance of constant supervision.
Risks and Limitations
A severe intellectual disability is characterized by significant limitations in cognitive functioning and adaptive behavior. Individuals with this diagnosis often face challenges that make living independently extremely risky. These risks can be categorized into two main areas:
Risks to Physical and Mental Welfare
These risks often stem from sensory and cognitive impairments that can make it challenging for individuals to recognize and respond to potential dangers. For example, a person with severe intellectual disability may have hyposensitivity, resulting in an inability to detect differences in water temperature. This can lead to accidental burns when adjusting faucets. Similarly, they may struggle to differentiate between potential threats and safe people, leading to an increased likelihood of exploitation.
Other examples include difficulty recognizing warning signs of emergency situations, recognizing changes in the weather, or identifying unsafe conditions in public spaces. These limitations may also extend to challenges with personal safety, such as crossing the street or managing transportation options safely.
Daily Living Skills
Basic daily living skills, including personal hygiene, money management, and self-care, are also often severely impacted in individuals with severe intellectual disabilities. For instance, they may struggle with tasks such as bathing independently, preparing meals, or using public transportation without supervision. The extent to which these skills are lacking and the level of prompting required can greatly influence the amount of care needed.
Around-the-clock care ensures that these individuals receive the constant attention necessary to help them navigate their daily lives safely and effectively. Without this care, they may be at significant risk of accidents, health issues, or exploitation.
A Real-Life Incident
One memorable incident that highlighted the importance of around-the-clock care involved a community service for four men with high support needs. On a particularly hot day, staff were late arriving, but the men had already arrived home and entered the building themselves. Despite the extreme heat, none of the men thought to activate the air conditioning, which was installed in every room. By the time the staff arrived, the men were distressed and unable to cope with the heat effectively.
This incident underscored the critical need for continuous support to ensure that basic safety needs, such as managing temperature levels, are addressed in a timely manner. The service provider responded by implementing more stringent procedures to ensure that staff members were present on a rota basis, even when activities concluded.
Conclusion
Individuals with severe intellectual disabilities require around-the-clock care to counteract the risks associated with their cognitive and adaptive limitations. This continuous support is not only crucial for their safety but also helps them develop and maintain necessary life skills. Continuous supervision and hands-on interactions are essential for these individuals to live safely and with dignity.
It is important for caregivers and service providers to recognize the unique needs of individuals with severe intellectual disabilities and to create supportive environments that meet these needs 24/7. By doing so, we can help ensure that these individuals enjoy the fullest possible quality of life.