As a result of their unique relationship with families, pediatricians are often faced with the difficult task of counseling the parents of a mentally retarded child. For this reason it is imperative that he understand the nature of the tools used to evaluate the retarded. Since the IQ test is still the most commonly used tool to assess presence or absence of retardation, this paper has briefly reviewed the concepts of intelligence, the IQ, and their interrelationships and their usefulness when evaluating the mentally retarded child.
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