19 General Introduction 1 diploma, others have barely been in school. Some youngsters, like Naomi, have enjoyed a supportive familial background, while others, like Kyla, come from broken- or even abusive households. A commonality of people with a mild intellectual disability is impaired intellectual functioning, but how those (dis)abilities exactly manifest can vary widely between people. That is, research consistently shows that youngsters with the same overall IQ can have very different intelligence profiles: combinations of high/low (non)verbal working memory, knowledge, reasoning, and visual-spatial processing abilities (Bertelli et al., 2018; Márquez‑Caraveo et al., 2021; Sajewicz-Radtke et al., 2022; van der Molen et al., 2009). The consequences are, for example, that John may struggle to understand verbal instructions but excel in day-planning, while for Kyla this is the opposite, even though their average IQs may be the same. Heterogeneity in backgrounds and cognitive abilities contribute to a variety of adaptive problems youngsters with a mild intellectual disability can face. They typically show (several) behavioral problems, which vary in nature and severity (de Bildt et al., 2005; Embregts et al., 2010; Soenen et al., 2009; Nouwens et al., 2017). John and Kyla may, for example, find solace in the effects of using illicit substances. John’s substance use is mostly recreational but with Kyla, this may be becoming a more hard-wired pattern. Alternatively, Naomi is fully abstinent but struggles with issues like self-harm and suicidality. With such a wide variety of behavioral problems, it comes as no surprise that comorbid diagnoses to the mild intellectual disability diagnosis are the rule rather than the exception (Hesapcioglu et al., 2019; Whitaker & Read, 2006). Psychopathologies like anxiety-, attention deficit hyperactivity-, autism spectrum-, depressive-, oppositional defiant-, post-traumatic stress-, and substance use disorders are among the most common in addition to a mild intellectual disability. An important consequence of the immense diversity of this target group is that it implies highly individualized support needs. Every person and her/his context is unique, which is why staff are encouraged to provide person-specific care – tailored to the individual’s unique needs (Embregts et al., 2019).
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