If someone you love is beginning to receive developmental services, you may encounter the abbreviation I/DD in paperwork, conversations, and information about available support. I/DD stands for intellectual and/or developmental disabilities. It is a broad term, not a single diagnosis, and it includes people with a wide range of abilities, experiences, and support needs. Understanding what I/DD means can help families navigate services while also avoiding assumptions about what a person can or cannot do.
What Does I/DD Stand For?
I/DD stands for intellectual and/or developmental disabilities.
The abbreviation combines two related terms because intellectual disabilities and developmental disabilities can overlap, but they are not exactly the same thing. A person may have an intellectual disability, a developmental disability, or both.
Most importantly, I/DD does not describe one particular type of person. Two individuals with I/DD may have completely different strengths, interests, communication styles, goals, and needs.
What Is an Intellectual Disability?
An intellectual disability involves differences or limitations in intellectual functioning and adaptive behavior.
Adaptive behavior refers to the conceptual, social, and practical skills people use in everyday life. Depending on the individual, this could affect areas such as understanding information, solving problems, communicating, managing everyday responsibilities, or learning new tasks.
The amount of support someone needs can vary significantly.
Having an intellectual disability also does not mean someone cannot learn, make choices, build relationships, participate in the community, or become more independent. An individual may simply learn certain skills differently or benefit from additional instruction, practice, or support.
What Is a Developmental Disability?
Developmental disability is a broader term for certain disabilities that begin during the developmental period and can affect a person’s functioning.
For California families, there is an additional distinction worth understanding. The general term “developmental disability” and eligibility for California Regional Center services are not automatically the same thing.
According to the California Department of Developmental Services (DDS), standard Regional Center eligibility generally requires a developmental disability that began before age 18, is expected to continue indefinitely, and constitutes a substantial disability. California law includes intellectual disability, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, autism, and certain other qualifying conditions.
Regional Centers determine eligibility through their assessment process. A diagnosis by itself should not be treated as an automatic guarantee that someone will qualify for every service.
California also has separate eligibility provisions for younger children, including Early Start for infants and toddlers and provisional eligibility for qualifying children ages three and four.
Is I/DD a Diagnosis?
No. I/DD is an umbrella term rather than a specific diagnosis.
This distinction matters because a broad label tells you very little about an individual person.
Knowing that someone has I/DD does not tell you whether that person can cook a meal, manage money, use transportation, communicate verbally, live independently, make decisions, maintain friendships, or learn new skills.
Those questions can only be answered by getting to know the individual.
This is also why terms such as “high functioning” and “low functioning” can be misleading. They reduce a complicated person to a broad judgment and may overlook areas where someone is highly capable as well as areas where support is genuinely needed.
It is more useful to talk specifically about an individual’s abilities, preferences, goals, and support needs.
What Can Independence Look Like for Someone With I/DD?
Independence is highly individual.
Some people with I/DD may eventually live completely independently without support. Others may live independently while receiving assistance with certain responsibilities. Some individuals may need more substantial ongoing support.
None of these situations can be predicted simply from the abbreviation I/DD.
It is often more helpful to look at specific abilities and goals. An individual might be working on:
- Preparing meals and maintaining a home
- Managing money and everyday responsibilities
- Making personal choices and expressing preferences
- Participating more fully in the community
- Developing greater confidence with daily routines
- Learning when and how to ask for assistance
Progress can also change what independence looks like over time. Someone who needs substantial instruction while learning a new skill may eventually perform that skill with minimal assistance or completely independently.
Why Does Person-Centered Language Matter?
The language we use can influence the expectations we have for other people.
A disability is part of a person’s life, but it does not tell you everything about that person. Someone with I/DD is also an individual with preferences, relationships, interests, strengths, frustrations, ambitions, and opinions.
Person-centered conversations focus on those qualities instead of defining someone entirely by a disability.
Terms such as “individual,” “person with an intellectual and/or developmental disability,” and “self-advocate” can help keep the person at the center of the discussion.
It is also important to respect an individual’s own language preferences. Some people prefer person-first language, while others prefer identity-first language. When someone tells you how they prefer to be described, following that preference is a simple way to respect their voice.
Why Are Individual Goals So Important?
One of the problems with broad labels is that they can lead people to make broad assumptions.
For example, two adults with the same diagnosis may want very different things from their lives. One may want to become more independent at home. Another may be interested in becoming more involved in the community. They may also need very different levels or types of support to pursue those goals.
Individualized planning starts by asking what matters to the person.
What does the individual want to accomplish? What does the person already do independently? Where would additional support be useful? What choices does the individual want to make about daily life?
These questions create a much clearer picture than a diagnosis alone.
How Does I/DD Relate to California Regional Centers?
California has 21 Regional Centers that help eligible individuals with developmental disabilities and their families access and coordinate services and supports.
Regional Centers determine eligibility, provide case management, assist with individualized planning, and coordinate appropriate services. For eligible individuals age three and older, the Individual Program Plan (IPP) plays an important role in identifying goals and planned supports.
The services an individual receives should reflect that person’s needs and circumstances rather than simply the presence of an I/DD diagnosis.
Canaan Cares works within California’s developmental services system by providing specific services when appropriate to an individual’s plan. These include the Self-Determination Program statewide for individuals ages three and older, as well as Independent Living Service and the Community Day Program in San Diego County through the San Diego Regional Center.
See the Person Before the Abbreviation
Learning what I/DD means is useful, especially when a family is beginning to navigate developmental services. But understanding the abbreviation should never become a shortcut for deciding what someone is capable of.
People with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities are individuals first. They have different abilities, challenges, interests, relationships, personalities, and hopes for their lives.
Canaan Cares approaches support from that person-centered perspective. Rather than asking what people with I/DD can generally accomplish, a more meaningful question is: What does this individual want to accomplish, and what support could help make it possible?
That question leaves room for growth, choice, independence, and the possibility that an individual’s abilities may go far beyond what someone initially assumed.
If you are interested in learning more about services for individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities in San Diego County and the surrounding areas, please contact the compassionate staff at Canaan Cares today: (858) 345-6546.
Canaan Cares proudly serves California Regional Centers throughout San Diego, Poway, Oceanside, Escondido, Carlsbad, El Cajon, Vista, Solana Beach, Encinitas, La Mesa, and Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, San Diego, and Riverside Counties.
To begin the eligibility process in your region, contact:
San Diego Regional Center
(858) 576-2996
Regional Center of Orange County
(714) 796-5100
Inland Regional Center
(909) 890-3000
Harbor Regional Center
(310) 543-0100
South Central Los Angeles Regional Center
(213) 744-7000
Eastern Los Angeles Regional Center
(626) 299-4700
Lanterman Regional Center
(213) 383-1300
Westside Regional Center
(310) 258-4000
Families may call any office for support, and staff will direct you to the correct intake coordinator.
