Intellectual Disabilities Behavior Under the Lens of Embodied Cognition Approaches

Diverse empirical studies have examined particularities of atypical behavior of the intellectually disabled (ID) population, and just a few theoretical approaches have been empirically tested to further understand the reasons for such atypical behavior (see Berghs et al., 2016, for medical, human rights, and social views about this topic). It is surprising that most of the theoretical approaches tested stem from research with typically developed humans, and have been adapted to partially fit the population in focus here (Bukow, 2013). For instance, Just and colleagues (2012), Sinha and colleagues (2014) share a more neuroanatomic view to explain the particularities of atypical behavior, claiming that this population lacks structural and functional body abilities in comparison with typically developed humans (Kaplan et al., 1998). More precisely, it is claimed that the misfunction of specific brain areas are the key elements for their atypical behavior. Indeed, scientific findings have reported mechanisms in which the mentioned neuroanatomic peculiarities impact their cognitive development and vice-versa; which is assumed to guide human behavior (Dye & Pascalis, 2017). Thus, to extend the traditional view a new view on embodied cognition (EC) approaches will explain atypical behavior of the intellectually disabled population (Shapiro, 2011). These approaches claim that body sensorimotor experience is the core stone of cognitive and behavioral development. The discussion though will cover the topic of whether EC approaches can be used to further enlighten the understanding of particularities of atypical behavior of individuals with IDs.