Causal diagnosis

Abstract

In the earlier chapters, the abilities and disabilities of people with mental handicaps who were living in different environments has been considered in some detail. It was clear that, because of the close association between physical handicap, behavioural problems and mental handicap, the optimum living environment is determined by factors other than the intellectual deficit. Thus, the underlying cause of the primary intellectual deficit is a relatively unimportant factor when considering strategies to improve the quality of an individual’s life. However, an appreciation of cause is of value in another context: if the cause of the problem is understood, then it may be possible to devise rational preventive strategies and to evaluate their effectiveness. In this chapter the available data on causal diagnosis are considered.