Psychosocial Interventions for Individuals with Intellectual Disability

Abstract

In the recent years, there has been an increased interest and focus on improving the quality of life of individuals with disabilities. In the year 2006, the United Nations drafted the Convention on the Rights of the Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) aimed at securing and protecting the human rights of persons with disabilities. As of November 2015, 160 countries have become signatories of this convention and many countries are working towards making legislations consistent with the CRPD to protect the human rights of individuals with disabilities (UN Convention on the Rights of the Persons with Disabilities, 2015). Individuals with intellectual disabilities often face increased challenges in self-care, emotional regulation and decision making due to their cognitive and adaptive skill limitations, which further impacts on their quality of life (Emerson, 2001a). A large proportion of population with intellectual disability display several forms of challenging behaviours including aggressive behaviours, self-harm, stereotypical behaviours and sexual misconducts (Crocker, Mercier, Lachapelle, Brunet, Morin & Roy 2006; Emerson et al., 2001b; Poppes, Putten, & Vlaskamp, 2010). Poppes et al. (2010) found a prevalence of self-harm and stereotypical behaviour in 82% of their participants with Profound Intellectual and Multiple Disabilities (PIMD) and 45% of their study participants displayed aggressive and destructive behaviours. Challenging behaviour appears to be a central theme in intellectual disability and its treatment. This chapter provides a discussion of the principles of Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) in prevention and treatment of challenging behaviours as well as improving the adaptive behaviours of individuals with intellectual disability.