Diagnostic Criteria
Intellectual developmental disorder (intellectual disability) is a disorder with onset
during the developmental period that includes both intellectual and adaptive
functioning deficits in conceptual, social, and practical domains. The following three
criteria must be met:
A. Deficits in intellectual functions, such as reasoning, problem solving, planning,
abstract thinking, judgment, academic learning, and learning from experience,
confirmed by both clinical assessment and individualized, standardized
intelligence testing.
B. Deficits in adaptive functioning that result in failure to meet developmental and
sociocultural standards for personal independence and social responsibility.
Without ongoing support, the adaptive deficits limit functioning in one or more
activities of daily life, such as communication, social participation, and
independent living, across multiple environments, such as home, school, work,
and community.
C. Onset of intellectual and adaptive deficits during the developmental period.
Note: The term intellectual developmental disorder is used to clarify its relationship
with the WHO ICD-11 classification system, which uses the term Disorders of
Intellectual Development. The equivalent term intellectual disability is placed in
parentheses for continued use. The medical and research literature use both terms,
while intellectual disability is the term in common use by educational and other
professions, advocacy groups, and the lay public. In the United States, Public Law
111-256 (Rosa’s Law) changed all references to “mental retardation” in federal laws
to “intellectual disability.”
Specify current severity (see Table 1):
F70 Mild
F71 Moderate
F72 Severe
F73 Profound