Borderline intellectual functioning

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Borderline intellectual functioning is a categorization of intelligence wherein a person has below average cognitive ability (an IQ of 71–85), but the deficit is not as severe as mental retardation (70 or below). This is technically a cognitive impairment.

Persons who fall into this categorization have a relatively normal expression of affect for their age, though their ability to think abstractly is rather limited. Reasoning displays a preference for concrete thinking. They are usually able to function day to day without assistance, including holding down a simple job and the basic responsibilities of maintaining a dwelling.

See also

• Mental retardation
• Intelligence quotient
• Forrest Gump

References

• Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: DSM-IV. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association. 2000. ISBN 0-89042-025-4. 
• Gillberg, Christopher (1995). Clinical child neuropsychiatry. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 47–48. ISBN 0-521-54335-5. 
• Harris, James C. (2006). Intellectual disability : understanding its development, causes, classification, evaluation, and treatment. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-517885-8.