Patient Presentation:
A 7-year-old boy, Jake, is brought to a child psychiatrist by his parents due to concerns about his academic struggles and social difficulties. His parents report that he has always been a "slow learner," struggling to keep up with his classmates. Jake has difficulty following multi-step instructions, and his speech is less developed compared to peers. Teachers note that he requires additional support in reading, writing, and math. Despite being friendly, he prefers playing with younger children and struggles to understand social cues.

Jake’s developmental history reveals mild delays in speech and motor skills. He walked at 18 months and spoke his first words at two years. He has no significant medical history but was born slightly premature at 36 weeks. There is no family history of intellectual disability, but his father reports struggling in school as a child.

During the psychiatric evaluation, Jake is cooperative but demonstrates limited abstract reasoning and problem-solving skills. He can identify basic shapes and colors but struggles with sequencing tasks. His adaptive functioning assessment shows deficits in conceptual, social, and practical skills, affecting his ability to function independently at school and home.