What is Mental Retardation
Mental retardation is a term for a pattern of persistently slow learning of basic motor and language skills ("milestones") during childhood, and a significantly below-normal global...
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Hello, my name is Mike, and physically, I am 31 years old.
However, mentally, I am 10 years old. I had been in special needs throughout school, and had always been young for my age. Right now, I live with my physically disabled veteran father, who is helping me write this. Some doctors have evaluated me, kind of on the side, so there is no real paperwork on this. We however, plan on getting it legally filed, so I can get on disability. There were reasons it had not been done yet, but we will not get into that right now. My main question is, is this a known type of mental illness? I have not been able to find anything about it on the web. I'll let my Dad describe a bit about how I am, so you will better understand. Mike thinks and acts like the typical ten year old does. He still plays with toys, and does almost everything like a kid. He also sleeps like a kid does, positions and the occasional bed-wetting. He had been physically & mentally abused by his mother until he was six years old, then was sexually abused a few times by people from ages six to ten. He had always been young for his age, even the schools had noticed that. He is also very emotional, and often cries in his sleep. He's very affectionate, as well as very emotionally sensitive, like he'd always been when he was a kid. Often, there are times when he does something or says something that is much like a kid, that we call it a "Kid moment." Mike can not hold down a job, and is often let go soon after getting the job. He tries his hardest, yet it never seems enough, and he gets rather upset about it. He is stuck having to try to act his age of thirty-one, and I hate to see him doing it, as it is noticeable that it is hurting him having to do so. He does not like having to "Pretend he's thirty-one." I'm helping him with this here, in hopes that he can be himself here, and be able to talk to others about what he's going through. Thank you for your time. P.S. We can add more details about how he is, if people wish. Posted on 08/09/08, 05:08 pm |
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Hello Mike,
My name is Jackie, I live in England and I have a son who acts a lot younger than he really is. He is only 8 but still acts like an 18 month-old. He is still in diapers and has not learnt to speak yet, but he does enjoy making a lot of noise babbling! He is called Christopher and enjoys life very much. He too is very affectionate and loves food! He has seen many doctors and had many tests, but no one knows why he has such trouble learning new things. His brain is not damaged, though it is not developing like other children's. The team of doctors who have looked for genetic syndromes think that there is probably a problem with his chromosones but genetic science is still new and it could be many years before they find an answer. The thing is, Mike, even if I found out why Christopher is different, there is nothing I could do to make him "better" and I really don't think I want him to be like everybody else. He is very special, everybody loves him and I am very proud of him. I am sure your dad feels just the same way about you. I think you have done very well indeed to reach the stage of a 10 year old. You are obviously a thoughtful, sensitive young man and I wish you luck with your disability claims. I do get help financially to care for Christopher and over here we have organizations like Mencap which employ people like you. Are there any local groups you could join where you can make friends with others who have similar struggles to you who maybe have other diagnosed conditions? Since having Christopher, I have met many men and women like you through sports and social clubs for the disabled. You are definitely not alone. Good luck and contact me if you want to chat. Jackie 
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Hi I'm Tiggerpaws.
Hey Mike I know how you feel dude. I'm stuck at 7 here, I had a heat stroke when I was a teen, did not get enuf oxygen when I was hatched, so neither did me any good. I live in a body that has lived for 39 years but I don't have a clue how to "act", it is just not natural for me other than how I have always been. I hate boring TV like news and sports and all that boring growedup poop, I'd much rather watch Sesame Street, Rugrats, Curious George, and Veggie Tales. I can do only one thing, electronics, the rest I stink at. If you wanna shoot the bull sometime, please write back. Pick a booger. Tigger
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Today has been great for me.
Here are 2 posts i made on my blog, telling about things i been feeling and how i am forever changed. ------------------- Present Moment... Something really strange happened to me today. I was ready to cry in frustration one second, then the next was so happy and content and hugging myself. No idea why feel like this, but its awesome!!!! I just felt so good, no idea why. even my sense of touch was very strong. felt my undies and t-shirt and socks moving as i walked. and the kittie's fur was so much softer. everything i touched was so much, stronger i guess. the feeling was awesome. never felt like that before. even my clothes rubbing my skin while walking brought up new feelings. still feeling it as i type this. i think some of it is making me feel other things, too. even my undies rubbing like they are and really feeling it, is making me very happy and content.i know its prolly something that everyone feels, and that its prolly not that exciting to most people, but its new and i love it. --------------------- Enjoying the new me... Well, since feeling like i been starting today, i realize that it means my life i changing. People say i have that happy kid glow to me. i guess i am now realizing that its time to stop pretending to be the grownup people expect me to be, and just be me, a kid. pretending to be a grownup makes me sad, and makes me cry a lot, specially at nite. well, no more. its time to be me, and if people dont like it, they can kiss my bum. --------------------- I know some cant understand how i am, and for those people, i'm sorry, but thats not my fault. i try to make it so people understand how i am, but its hard to explain.
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Hi to Mike again.
Its Me Tigger. You are probably going tru what I had to some years ago, its the "I Give UP Being A Growedup" phase of life. I went thru some weerde things in life and this was one of them, I spent 4 years from outside age of 19 to 23 figgering this out, and that was only the beginning.
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