ciocultural background and native language. Co-occurring disorders that affect communi-
cation, language, and/or motor or sensory fu nction may affect test scores. Individual
cognitive profiles based on ne uropsychological testing are mo re useful for understanding
intellectual abilities than a single IQ score.  Such testing may identify areas of relative
strengths and weaknesses, an assessment import ant for academic and vocational planning.
IQ test scores are approximat ions of conceptual function ing but may be insufficient to
assess reasoning in real-life situations and ma stery of practical task s. For example, a per-
son with an IQ score above 70 may have such severe adaptive behavi or problems in social
judgment, social understanding, and other area s of adaptive functioning that the person’s
actual functioning is comparable to that of in dividuals with a lower IQ score. Thus, clinical
judgment is needed in interpre ting the results of IQ tests.
Deficits in adaptive functioning (Criterion B) refer to how well a person meets community
standards of personal independen ce and social responsibility, in comparison to others of sim-
ilar age and sociocultural background. Adaptive  functioning involves adaptive reasoning in
three domains: conceptual, social, and practical. The conceptual (academic) domain  involves
competence in memory, language, reading, writing, math reasoning, acquisition of practical
knowledge, problem solving, and judgment  in novel situations , among others. The social do-
main  involves awareness of others’ thoughts, feelings, and experiences; empathy; interper-
sonal communication skills; friendship abilit ies; and social judgment, among others. The
practical domain involves learning and self-management across life settings, including personal
care, job responsibilities, money management, recreation, self-management of behavior, and