Concepts of mental deficiency among the Tamang of Nepal

The Tamang of the Kathmandu Valley have an agrarian society with little demand for literacy and schooling, yet they recognize and label mental retardation. The criteria for labeling are based partially upon insufficiency of intelligence and behavioral adaptation but primarily upon speech incompetence. There is stigma attached to the label, and it has a limiting effect upon social status and role. While the Western conception of mental deficiency is not primarily contingent upon verbal ability, speech function is a consideration in the evaluation of intelligence, as is the case in other parts of the world. In fact, verbal skill is one useful referent for future cross-cultural research on mental deficiency.