Remember there is not clear guidance on what the treatment needs of persons with intellectual disability are. You may need to get an independent evaluation for regional center services. The evaluation must first discuss what the treatment needs of people with intellectual disability are generally. Then it should discuss how you need those treatments to achieve the most independent, productive, and normal life possible.

Advocates and families should also present information from published clinical literature on treatment needs of people with intellectual disability. For example, the DSM-5, Intellectual Disability, Table 1, Column 3, contains several treatments people with intellectual disability need. These include:

• support with complex daily living tasks compared to peers, like grocery shopping, transportation, home organization, nutritious meal preparation, banking, and money management
• support in judgment related to well-being and organization around recreational activities
• support in making health care and legal decisions
• support in raising a family
• help learning skills needed to work

Despite the Ronald F. case disagreeing with Samantha C., Ronald F. did not say what the treatment needs of persons with intellectual disability actually are. But the Samantha C. case found that these services are treatments needed by persons with intellectual disability: help with cooking, public transportation, money management, rehabilitative and vocational training, independent living skills training, specialized teaching and skill development, and supported employment services. If you need help or training in any of those areas, tell the regional center or judge. Ronald F.’s dismissal of these as “services” and not “treatments” should not prevent you from emphasizing them, because many are in the DSM-5 as supports needed by people with intellectual disability.^[1]See Intellectual Disability, Table 1, Column 3.

Similarly, if you need any of the training described by the ARCA Guidelines, whether or not the Ronald F. decision would consider those to be “services” and not “treatments,” tell the regional center or judge. People without disabilities might benefit from many regional center services, so clarify these treatments are not things you would simply benefit from. Under the fifth category, you must need these treatments for the most independent, productive, and normal life possible. You must show any treatment you need is because of your intellectual deficits and not for any other reason. You must also show your need for treatment spans all or most areas of your life.^[2]In order to be diagnosed with intellectual disability, the DSM-5, Intellectual Disability, Diagnostic Criteria, requires that a person’s adaptive functioning deficits limit their functioning across … Continue reading