Facts About Mentally Handicapped People

Persons who are mentally disabled oftentimes find it difficult, if not impossible, to journey through life without some type of assistance. Developmental disabilities, commonly referred to in the medical community as retardation, are normally present at birth and are marked by a lower-than-normal intelligence.

Causes

• According to the Association for Retarded Citizens (ARC), in about one-third of all cases of mental retardation, the exact cause if not known. The other two-thirds are thought to be brought about by one of the following four factors:

  Prenatal Problems: some prenatal conditions can be prevented by the expectant mother refraining from smoking or drug use, but other causes, such as prenatal infections, are difficult to control.

  Heredity: in a small percentage of cases, mental disabilities are caused by defective genes inherited from the parents. These genes interfere with the normal development of a child's brain. Down syndrome is an example of a genetic defect that causes lifelong mental retardation.

  Childhood Illness: when infants experience serious infections, the brain can become swollen and the brain can be damaged.

  Environmental Factors: otherwise normally developing children can become mentally challenged if their living conditions are seriously substandard. Inadequate medical care, poverty, unhealthy conditions in the home or malnutrition can cause development problems. Lead-based paints have also become a major concern.

Symptoms

• Children who suffer from mental disabilities oftentimes develop much slower than others. Learning to sit up, walk or perform other simple skills takes longer than with the non-challenged. Usually, if the disability developed prenatally, the results are noticeable at birth. When the disability is the result of malnutrition, for example, the affects won't be recognized until a later age. Children born with Down syndrome are easily recognized due to physical distinctions.

Diagnosis

• Diagnosing mental disability begins with a complete physical examination. Some retardation can be caused by treatable conditions, such as hypertension involving the thyroid gland. If medical causes are ruled out, the diagnosis continues by giving intelligence tests. There are several commonly used intelligence tests that can accurately determine a child's intelligence level.

Prognosis

• There are different levels of mental disability. Persons with mild to moderate retardation can oftentimes become somewhat self-sufficient and lead a fairly normal life. The mildly disabled are usually able to develop some social and communication skills and motor coordination is only slightly impaired. Those, however, with profound disabilities are faced with a lifetime of assisted living. For the severely impaired, full-time supervision is needed and the affected person can only contribute to their self-care in the most limited sense.

Rights of the Mentally Handicapped

• The Americans with Disabilities Act was passed by Congress in 1990 to afford certain rights for both physically and mentally handicapped persons. It seems, however, that this law unintentionally provides more benefits to the physically handicapped, especially in regarding to employment, as jobs require candidates to perform certain intellectual skills oftentimes not possessed by the mentally challenged. Even with current laws designed to protect the mentally challenged, many feel they are still being discriminated against because of their deficits in adaptive behavior. Every state has governmental agencies to assist the mentally handicapped and several private foundations also exist to aid persons who feel they have been discriminated against.