What is the prevalence of mental retardation?
According to test standards and studies about 2.7% of the Texas population falls at or below an IQ score of 70. For evaluation of their needs for services, persons with mental retardation can be divided into three groups, mild, moderate and severe/profound. Persons within the mild range of mental retardation comprise about 2.34% of the total population. Persons within the moderate range of mental retardation comprise about 0.28% of the population. Persons within the severe and profound ranges of mental retardation comprise about 0.11% of the population. Based on national research on school-based and identified service populations, TDMHMR estimates that while most persons with moderate, severe or profound mental retardation have needs for services, only about a third of persons with mild mental retardation are likely to have service needs. Most of these service needs for persons with mild levels of mental retardation are for education, vocational and skills training or are due to compli