Many concepts and current practices related to the condition of intellectual disability remain strongly influenced by a normative understanding of developmental processes that often maintain the person diagnosed as disabled in a position of never ending childhood. The set of conceptual tools presented by the cultural-historical approach provides for a critical discussion of intellectual disability according to complex and dynamic viewpoints, in which abilities are valued, while the person's ongoing development in relation to the environment is also considered. Amid the intertwined environmental, sociocultural, and subjective conditions there is room for re-signifying self, one's condition of disability and the world. Among this group of factors, eternal childhood gives place to autonomy and a critical view of self. In this study we aim to put forth arguments to support critical reflections about the condition called intellectual disability. First, we discuss the cultural-historical construction of the phenomenon of intellectual disability. Next, we focus on and compare the main concepts and beliefs related to disability put forth by the medical model and the social approaches to disabilities. The cultural-historical approach is then presented as a potential theoretical alternative to substitute crystallized conceptions. Lastly, we highlight some of the developmental potentials of adults with intellectual disabilities, compatible with the individuals' current conditions in context.
Special education; Intellectual disability; Cultural-historical approach; Developing adulthood