THEORETICAL BACKGROUND OF INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY: POSSIBILITIES AND LIMITATIONS

Abstract

The article is focused on the problem of disability as a general mental disease and mental retardation as a kind of intellectual disorder and possible alternative ways of teaching English as a foreign language. The authors define a mental disorder, also called a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, as a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. They claim that abilities and limitations of mentally handicapped children are presented by defining mental retardation. The article also presents the classification of mental disabilities, and a concrete type of the mental disability  ̶  the mild one is characterized. It also substantiates the objective necessity that a skilled teacher should be very flexible and methodologically well prepared for teaching English as a foreign language to mentally handicapped students, using different methods tailored to their individual needs.