Developmental Disabilities

Developmental disabilities are a group of conditions due to an impairment in physical, learning, language, or behavior areas. These conditions begin during the developmental period, may impact day-to-day functioning, and usually last throughout a person’s lifetime.Most common disabilities: Fragile X syndrome, Down syndrome, Prevasive developmental disorders, Fetal alchohol spectrum disorders, Cerebral palsy, Intellectual disability. Developmental disabilities are severe, long-term problems. They may be physical, such as blindness. They may affect mental ability, such as learning disorders. Or the problem can be both physical and mental, such as Down syndrome. The problems are usually life-long, and can affect everyday living. The main causes of developmental disabilities , Genetic or chromosomal abnormalities, Prenatal exposure to substances, Preterm birth. Genetic abnormalities cuase conditions such as down syndrome, Rett syndrome.

Treatment:
Treatments include physical, speech, and occupational therapy. Special education classes and psychological counseling can also help. Children with Down syndrome, fragile X syndrome, Rett syndrome, and other IDDs can often benefit from therapeutic speech therapy, occupational therapy, and exercises to improve their gross- and fine-motor skills.

Major research:
1)Developmental Delay and Disability among Under - 5 Children in a Rural ICDS Block : The study to assess the prevalence of developmental delay, deformity and disability among 0-5 age group childrenn in Pattanakkad rural ICDS block, selected at random from among the ICDS blocks in Alappuzha District, Kerala, India. Of 12520 children upto 5 years in this block, there were a total of 311 children with developmental delay, deviation, deformity or disability giving a prevalence of 2.5% (95% CI, 2.22 – 2.77). The prevalence of developmental disabilities up to 2 years was 2.31 (95% CI, 1.91 – 2.71) and from 2 – 5 years 2.62% (95% CI, 2.25 – 2.99). The prevalence obtained in the study has important policy implications for identifying childhood disabilities in the community. 2)Prevalence of specific developmental disorder of scholastic skill in school students in Chandigarh, India A total of 38 students were found to be having specific developmental disorder of scholastic skills in phase I, that gave a prevalence of 1.58 per cent. Majority had mixed type of errors on SLD battery. There were more boys diagnosed with specific learning disability. Teacher's screening instrument had high sensitivity (90.385) and specificity (94.68).