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Mental Retardation

What is Mental Retardation?
Mental retardation is the term used to refer to a person with limited mental functioning, and a pattern of slow learning of the basic motor and language skills. These limitations will many times mean a child will develop a lot slower than other children of the same age. Children who suffer from mental retardation often take longer to walk, speak, dress, or learn to eat on their own. In school, they will have difficulty grasping simple information. Mental retardation can appear from birth through the age of 18 in an individual.

What are the causes of mental retardation?
They are many causes of mental retardation; doctors have tried to group them into four major categories. They are as follows:

1-         Genetic Conditions-      Mental retardation can be caused by abnormal genes that a child inherits from their parents.
2-         Issues during pregnancy-           If a fetus does not develop correctly, the child born could be born with mental retardation. This may happen if the mother drinks or smokes during pregnancy.
3-         Issues at birth-              During birth if a baby’s oxygen supply is cut off for some reason, they may also be born with mental retardation.
4-         Health issues-               Many childhood illnesses can cause mental retardation if they go untreated. Such childhood diseases as measles and meningitis are often culprits of this mental retardation.

How can it be diagnosed?
Mental retardation can be diagnosed in one of two ways. A) Checking a person IQ or intelligent quotient. This tests a person’s ability to learn, think, and solve problems. B) A test for adaptive behavior. This tests how a person can or can not live on be independent and live on their own.

What are the signs of mental retardation?
They are signs that a parent can look for in determining if his or her child is suffering from a form of mental retardations. The earlier you are able to recognize the signs, the faster a parent will be able to get some guidance on how to help the child.

1.         If the child is able to sit, craw or walk at the same rate of other children his or her age.
2.         If the child has problems speaking.
3.         If the child has problems recalling simple events or words.
4.         Does the child grasp the concept of how things work in a social environment?
5.         If the child is able to distinguish the difference between right and wrong.
6.         If the child is able to follow along a logical path, and has the ability to solve simple problems.

What should a parent do?
Parents need to learn all they can in regards to mental retardation. The more information you possess the better you are able to deal with it, and help your child in the future. A parent needs to encourage their child to try and accomplish small goals, such as doing chores, feeding themselves, dressing themselves and learning how to be independent.

Parents need to investigate what programs their child’s schools offer. They have to make sure to get them into special programs that can offer assistance to the children. Getting the children involved in these programs will help both the parent and the child learns how to deal with the situation and learn how to be more independent. Make sure that you continue to keep in contact with teachers, and find out how your child is progressing and if there is anything that you can do at home to help with the process.

It is also important to see what activities and programs are available in your community. This will give the child another place to go and meet with other children, it will allow them to continue to build on the social skills they are learning in school, and also a chance for them to have some fun.

Finally, parents should talk to other parents who have children that suffer from mental retardation. These parents can be great sounding boards for other parents and they can also offer you advice and support that you might need. They can also be there to help you out if you find yourself in a situation that you are not able to deal with. It is a good outlet for the parents with children suffering from mental retardation to have.

Learning Disability

Types of Learning Disabilities

Cri Du Chat Syndrome

Down's Syndrome

Edward's Syndrome

Fragile X Syndrome

Homocystinuria

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Mental Retardation

Mental Retardation Causes

Mild Mental Retardation

Patau's Syndrome

Phenylketonuria

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