Question
My child is only in first grade, but I always feel like they can’t learn anything. There might be an issue with their intelligence. Is intellectual disability genetic?
Answer
In real life, there are also many cases where parents with average intelligence have intelligent children, or intelligent parents raise a child with mental retardation. This shows that intelligence and inheritance are closely related, but we cannot ignore the impact of the environment during pregnancy and after birth on intelligence. Generally speaking, inheritance has an impact of about 50 to 60% on intelligence, while environmental factors account for 40 to 50%. If we compare intelligence to an apple, inheritance provides the seeds and soil, while subsequent education and other factors are the hard work of cultivation. Only with a high-quality seed in fertile soil and through hard work can one grow a bountiful harvest.