Adult Social Care Glossary, v 0.6

For the purpose of this guideline, a learning disability is defined as meeting 3 core criteria:
- lower intellectual ability (usually an IQ of less than 70)
- significant impairment of social or adaptive functioning
- onset in childhood.

A person's learning disability may be mild, moderate, severe or profound in severity. Learning disabilities are different from specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia, which do not affect intellectual ability. A specific age limit is not used to define older people because adults with learning disabilities typically experience age-related difficulties at different ages, and at a younger age than the general population. This is reflected in the guideline title 'people growing older with learning disabilities'. Within the recommendations, this long form is used at the beginning of each section but in subsequent recommendations 'people' or 'people with learning disabilities' is used as a short hand. In all cases, the intended population is 'people growing older with learning disabilities'.