Developmental disabilities are conditions due to an impairment in physical, learning, language or behavior areas that impact a person’s day-to-day functioning. Developmental disabilities emerge between birth and age 22, and usually last throughout a person’s lifetime.
Many different types of developmental disabilities exist, and most are caused by a complex mix of factors, which may include genetics, parental health and behaviors, complications during birth, prenatal or early childhood infections, and prenatal or early childhood exposure to environmental toxins.
Some examples of developmental disabilities include:
- Angelman syndrome
- Autism Spectrum Disorder
- Blindness
- Cerebral Palsy
- Deafness
- Down syndrome
- Epilepsy
- Mixed Expressive Receptive Language Disorder
- Fragile X syndrome
- Intellectual disability
- Kernicterus
- Mitochondrial diseases
- Muscular Dystrophy
- Prader-Willi syndrome
- Sanfilippo syndrome
- Spina Bifida
- Traumatic Brain Injury
- Treacher-Collins syndrome
- Tuberous sclerosis
- Turner syndrome
- Williams syndrome
Many other types of developmental disabilities exist.