ABSTRACT
This chapter illustrates the case of therapy with a family where a young woman was functioning way below her intellectual potential and regarded as mentally handicapped. The origins and nature of intellectual impairment or mental handicap are no less complex than those of intelligence itself - a complexity reflected in the profusion and confusion of the terminology used to address the former. Apparent mental handicap may arise independent of social class from physical factors which retard development and learning like unrecognized deafness, poor sight, and the effects of chronic illness and treatment. The complex interaction between intelligence, achievement, and gender was particularly evident in the mother-daughter relationship. For several reasons, the mother-daughter relationship was chosen as the main focus of therapeutic interventions designed to achieve the goals and objectives outlined. With gender issues so pivotal in the family's problems, this may seem a strange choice, given that the women already carried the burden of responsibility for the family.
