Mental Retardation

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What is Mental Retardation

Everyone living in the world has their own unique abilities and character. Nevertheless, there are underprivileged people who are born with one form of disabilities or another. For example, some people are blind or deaf, some are physically handicapped, while others may have inadequate or dawdling mental functions.

Mental Retardation (MR), also known as intellectual disability is a condition diagnosed before age 18 that comprises an IQ (intellectual functioning level) below 70-75, and a deficiency of the adaptive skills essential for daily living such as motor skills (manipulation over body movements), cognitive skills (capability to comprehend and deal wisely with circumstances), social skills (interacting with people and learning appropriate social manners), language skills (understanding what others say and to communicate) , self-care and functional academics (reading, writing, basic math). Based on IQ test scores, approximately 3% of the population are considered to have MR. However, if classification is based on the need for support, only 1% of the people are classified as having significant mental limitation.
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What are the causes of Mental Retardation?

Causes of MR can be broken down into categories including infections such as HIV infection or Congenital rubella, chromosomal abnormalities such as down syndrome and Fragile X (single gene disorder situated on the X chromosome), environmental such as deprivation syndrome, genetic abnormalities and inherited metabolic disorders such as tuberous sclerosis and hunter syndrome, metabolic such as hypoglycemia, malnutrition, toxic such as lead poisoning and fetal alcohol syndrome, trauma (before and after birth) such as severe head injury and unexplained causes. The 4 prevalent causes of occurrences in mental retardation ...

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