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A new Program study shows that over 1/3 of California’s
children with mental retardation are born with structural birth
defects; in fact, a child with birth defects is almost 27 times
more likely to have mental retardation at age 7. Even excluding
those with Down syndrome and other chromosome disorders, children
with birth defects have an 11 times higher risk of mental retardation.
Children with birth defects are at high risk to be severely
affected: they account for 41.8% of those classified as having
severe mental retardation compared to 29% of those in the mild
category. A child with birth defects is less likely to have
an associated developmental disorder—they comprise only
22% of the cases with cerebral palsy, epilepsy or autistic
disorders.
Our study—looking at nearly 120,000 births in 8 Central
Valley counties—includes only children followed by the
California Department of Developmental Services; we did not
ascertain children who died, had moved or who were receiving
privately-funded services.
We found that 5/1000 school age children received state-funded
services for mental retardation and related conditions. Overall
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2.6/1000 had mild mental retardation (IQ
score of 50-70) |
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2.4/1000 had severe mental retardation (IQ score of
less than 50) |
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2.8/1000 had other developmental disabilities
such as cerebral palsy, epilepsy or autistic disorders. |
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34.8% had one or more birth defects |
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18.2% had Down syndrome. |
This study is undoubtedly an underestimate of the true incidence
of mental retardation—as many as 1% of all school age
children may be affected.
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