What are the symptoms of a child with low IQ?

As parents, we all hope that our children are smart and cute, but for some reason, the child’s IQ level may be relatively low, which has a huge impact on the child’s future and the parents. As children grow and develop, parents should learn more about their children's IQ level and be able to make a basic judgment based on some of their children's behaviors. At this time, they should go to the hospital for a scientific diagnosis in time.

1. Hyperactivity and attention deficit

Mentally retarded children have retarded brain development and poor self-control. Most of them show attention deficit and some have hyperactivity, which is more common in boys. The main manifestations are the inability to focus on one thing for a long time, especially attention that requires willpower; they are easily distracted, their attention is easily disturbed by the outside world, and they cannot persist in doing things. Some mentally retarded children even find it difficult to stay focused for 3 or 5 minutes. Children with hyperactive behaviors will twist and turn in their chairs during class, move their hands and feet constantly, cannot sit still, like to talk too much, and often affect other students' classroom learning.

2. Impulsive, aggressive, and self-injurious behavior

Impulsive and aggressive behaviors are more common in boys than in girls among mentally retarded children, and more common in students with severe or above symptoms than in students with mild or moderate symptoms. They are manifested as irritability, impulsivity, destruction of property, kicking and attacking others, or insulting others. Younger children will bite people, chew objects, and hit others to vent their emotions. There is often no obvious reason for their aggressive behavior, which occurs suddenly and is often destructive. Some mentally retarded children are introverted and aggressive, manifesting themselves as self-harm. When their demands are not met or their wishes are restricted, they will beat their chests, hit their heads, bite their bodies, bang their heads against the wall, and other self-harming behaviors to vent their dissatisfaction.

3. Withdrawal Behavior

Withdrawal behavior is also common in normal preschool children, but it improves with age. Older mentally retarded children, especially those with more serious symptoms, also often exhibit withdrawal behaviors, such as being timid, shy, lowering their heads, speaking in a low voice, not daring to interact with others, fear of meeting strangers, fear of going to unfamiliar places, over-attachment to relatives, etc. Some of them adopt methods such as facing the wall, hiding, etc.

4. Abnormal sexual behavior

From the perspective of normal children's psychological development, children aged 3 to 5 generally begin to notice the differences between the two sexes. Normal boys aged 3 to 5 will show special interest in and curiosity about their external genitalia and often play with them with their hands. However, as they grow older, their awareness of moral and social behavioral norms increases, and this behavior will gradually disappear. Mentally retarded students have low awareness of moral behavioral norms and poor self-control, especially younger or severely mentally retarded boys, most of whom play with their external genitals regardless of the place or time. Mentally retarded girls have been found to have behavioral abnormalities called "leg clamp syndrome," which involves tightly clamping and rubbing their legs together to stimulate their external genitalia, but this is less common than in boys. It is also common among mentally retarded students to like touching and getting close to classmates or teachers of the opposite sex.

5. Antisocial Behavior

Antisocial behavior mainly refers to behavior that is inconsistent with moral norms and social standards, such as lying, truancy, stealing, cheating, and intentional mischief. It is generally seen among mildly mentally retarded students, especially boys. If they are not guided correctly, they can easily develop into antisocial personalities in adulthood, with behaviors that deviate from the entire social behavioral norms, and even commit illegal acts that harm other people's lives, property or social security, with serious consequences.

6. Pica

Pica behavior is the swallowing of non-food substances such as paint, plaster, hair, dirt, etc. on toys. Different foreign objects swallowed may cause different digestive system problems. The author once met a 13-year-old girl with moderate mental retardation who had pica. She loved to pull out her hair and eat it, and her forehead was bald due to the hair being pulled out. She also loved to secretly eat raw meat at home and could not control herself.