What causes developmental disabilities?
There are over 100 known causes of developmental disabilities. These include various problems that exist prior to pregnancy, occur during pregnancy, problems at birth, and problems or accidents occurring after birth. There are also pervasive cultural and poverty related risk factors that can cause a child to experience barriers or delays to normal mental and physical development. They all serve to emphasize the importance of good prenatal care, the avoidance of environmental hazards and knowledge of family history. Even with the knowledge of conditions that we know can cause developmental disabilities, the diagnosis of approximately one-half of occurrences remains unclear.
Developmental disabilities can be caused by any condition that impairs the development of the brain before and during birth or in childhood. There are over 300 known causes of mental retardation, however, the three major causes are Down syndrome, fetal alcohol syndrome and fragile X syndrome. It can occur in any family; it cuts across the lines of racial, ethnic, educational, social and economic backgrounds.
No-one truly knows, because we don’t all call these disabilities by the same names. There are many names for the type of disabilities which are linked with developmental problems. …read more • 2 of 4 by L Warren The causes of developmental disabilities include genetic abnormalities, brain injuries occurring prior to and during delivery of a newborn, and environments in which children are severely deprived of conditions needed for …
