Gestural praxis in young adults with mild to moderate intellectual disabilities

Praxis functioning in the population with intellectual disabilities (ID) has been poorly studied. The goal of this research was to look for a starting point to study the praxic functioning in young adults with mild to moderate ID.

Thirty young adults with ID and 30 young adults without ID, between the ages of 18 and 35 years, participated in this study. All participants completed tests that assessed gestural praxis.

It was possible to observe similar praxis behaviour in the group with ID in almost all domains studied, albeit showing statistical values lower than those of the group without ID.

Despite the high number of errors committed, the sample of participants with ID was able to reach the goal of praxic tasks performed; such errors may be associated with a deficit in the development of various brain functions and not only with praxis functioning, mainly related to a lower yield in terms of planning, monitoring and correcting intentional movement.