Biological ageingrefers to the physical state of the body in relation to the biological processes of growth, maturation, death and decay of organ and body functioning.
Social ageingmay be strongly influenced by legal, ethical, religious, or historical experiences. As members of the greater society, older adults are more underprivileged when they are intellectual disabled.
Psychological processes of development and ageing from a lifespan perspective, is the management of the dynamics between gains and losses, consisting of three interacting elements: selection, optimization, and compensation (2:10). All three dimensions are equally important. It does not help to have a physically strong body if you have a severe depression that makes you lie in bed all day.
We may also talk about historical ageing, to explain behaviour, adaptations, complaints, functioning, and health problems the person has 'today'. It may also be a reason to remember the tragic side to historical ageing in people with ID. For instance, countries like Germany and Austria have only a few PWID who survived the systematic killing during the Nazi regime (4).
Functional ageingis a useful concept to describe ageing in PWID. When adults with ID, at advanced chronological biological age, noticing difficulty with walking, seeing, hearing, eating and talking, they may start to feel old (2:11). By focusing on 'functional ageing', the persons own understanding and feeling of being old are in focus. We listen to how the person himself define the ageing process and challenges they need help to cope with.