Demographic, Cognitive and Psycho-Social Profile of Adults with Borderline Intellectual Functioning

Abstract

Borderline Intellectual Functioning describes a group of people who fall in the boundary between average intelligence and intellectual disability. Although projected as constituting about 13.6 % of normal general population, this high risk condition lacks official recognition with little, if any, formal educational, social, economic, or mental health supports. By using a cross sectional exploratory survey design combined with purposeful sampling technique, this study seeks to systematically and empirically profile the nature, frequency, content, types and variety of demographic, behavioral, cognitive-intellectual and psycho-social characteristics shown by such adults in our country. Results show greater representation of men than women with high levels of unemployment or under-employment irrespective of gender. Typical profiles of these individuals are delineated by pleading for more research into mapping their assets-deficits through developing exclusively standardized tools for their assessment. The need for their inclusion in the prevailing official classification systems is underlined.