Intellectual Disability involves deficits in adaptive functioning in which domains?

• A. Conceptual, social, and practical
• B. Physical, emotional, spiritual
• C. Intellectual only
• D. Communication, mobility, self-care

Answer: (A)

Intellectual disability is defined by deficits in adaptive functioning across important everyday skills. These deficits show up in three broad areas: conceptual, social, and practical. The conceptual domain includes reasoning, language, literacy, and number skills. The social domain covers communication and interpersonal skills, such as understanding social rules and navigating relationships. The practical domain involves daily living tasks like self-care, money management, hygiene, safety, and using transportation.

Because the diagnosis hinges on adaptive functioning in daily life (not just intellectual ability), these three areas together capture how well someone can function independently. The other options don’t reflect this standard framework: physical, emotional, and spiritual aren’t the recognized domains of adaptive functioning; saying it’s only intellectual ignores the real-world skills needed for independence; and while communication, mobility, and self-care touch on aspects of daily life, they don’t align with the established three-domain model of conceptual, social, and practical.