Intellectual disability in India: the evolving patterns of care

Intellectual disability was recognised in ancient Indian literature, but organised services have a history of just five decades. India shares many features of low- and middle-income (LAMI) countries regarding intellectual disability. There is a low level of awareness about its nature, causes and interventions. One can come across many superstitions, myths and misconceptions about intellectual disability. In general, services are inadequate, being concentrated in big cities and urban areas. There is generally limited access to support services and few government benefits, and these, in any case, are often of little value (World Health Organization, 2007). Locally and nationally, there are few relevant and reliable epidemiological data on the prevalence of intellectual disability. However, there have been some positive developments within the past three decades, and they are the focus of this paper.