Mental Age Theory Hurts People with Intellectual Disabilitie
http://nosmag.org/mental-age-theory-hur ... abilities/
I wouldn’t have minded being told I was behind in some ways, if it was true and if I got help for those areas of difficulty. I wonder which is worse being told you are behind in certain ways or not getting the help and support you need to flourish.
I’m 61 with a track record of 44 years diagnosed severe mental illness. I have probable NVLD and possible autism(traits). I also ,based on childhood, have possible/probable dyspraxia. Such things were never really recognised for above averagely intelligent children from the early 60s to mid 70s and thus I went, and stayed , under the radar. As a result I have never got help and support for those things. Result- I 've never worked and can count the number of friends I’ve had on one hand.
Depending on someone's level of retardation, I find it very insulting to just see someone as a child just because they have a intellectual level of a child and treat them as such. They want to be people too and date and get married and also have kids and have a job and have their own freedom. Not be defined by their mental age and treated as such.
My ex acted like I was intellectually slow because he would ignore me if he felt I was too immature and he didn't like my smile and how I expressed my excitement and scoffed at what TV shows I liked and what video games I played and stuff. He even connected it all to ABDL and I found it insulting and connecting my personality to it. Because he connected it to it, he said it made him feel like a pedophile and said it felt like he was with a child than with an adult. Then when I tried to give him the same taste of his own medicine by saying I don't want anything to do with him when he is like a teen and being immature like one too and watching teen shows, he called it a game. So narcissist. You can't win with these people or get them to see how flawed their logic is. They just turn it around on you and find excuses or call it a game. Another reason why I am not with him still, he was toxic and he blamed it on PTSD. Supposedly when his ex called him a pedophile it traumatized him. He sure wasn't doing anything to overcome it and why even be with me in the first place if I was such a trigger for him? But yet he had no problems acting immature with his child and no problems acting immature himself and his excuse was "I am more like a teenager, you are like a 5-8 year old."
So yep this is all insulting.
_________________
Son: Diagnosed w/anxiety and ADHD. Also academic delayed and ASD lv 1.
Daughter: NT, no diagnoses. Possibly OCD. Is very private about herself.
Keep in mind most people with ID's are in the high functioning range (I.Q of 60-70). You could apply the ''mind of a five year old child theory'' to someone with a moderate to severe ID but this is not the case for the majority it seems. A lot of times you can not even ''tell''.
I hate being told things about my age too. I remember when I was 15, my cousin (who was the same age as me) told me I had a mental age of a 9-year-old. That upset me.
It's no good telling me that I have a mental age of a child, because I'm a mixture of any age. I think like an elderly lady, I sometimes behave like a child when hyperactive, I sometimes behave like a teenager when having a meltdown, but I also act my own age too a lot of the time. I think my mental age is my real age, as I'm doing things others my age are doing, but sometimes I need support on some things. Actually I have no exact 'mental age' really. Depends what mood I'm in.
_________________
Female
Similar Topics | |
---|---|
What is the term for mental energy and its unit? |
27 May 2025, 12:43 pm |
Family won't let me do things because of mental illness
in Bipolar, Tourettes, Schizophrenia, and other Psychological Conditions |
21 Jun 2025, 4:42 pm |
My Mental Health Journey: The Importance of Neuro-Affirming |
01 May 2025, 3:16 pm |
How old do people think I am? |
Yesterday, 3:35 pm |