MENTAL RETARDATION

"It is a limitation of intellectual capacity due to some physical and psychological causes which results in impairment in learning, maturing and social adjustment. Mentally handicapped people are less intelligent than the normal people. A normal child learns many skills and develops his abilities very quickly during the first few years of his life. A mentally handicapped child is one whose learning and development have been delayed or slowed down due to one reason or others. This impairment is noticed during developmental period, i.e till the age of 18 years."

Cause of mental retardation

1. Genetic causes:

A. Chromosomal abbrevation:
It means variation in either the number or location of genetic material on the chromo0some.
B. Down’s syndrome:
It is common genetic disorder in which a person is born with 47 rather than 46 chromosomes resulting in developmental delays, mental retardation, low muscle tone and other effects.
C. inter marriages:
There are two types of genes in a human body.
i. Dominant
ii. RecessiveDominant genes carry better survival chances while recessive genes are negative traits. In the case of inter marriages the repeated cousin marriages lead to the emergence of recessive genes usually leading to the presence of negative traits in off-springs and can cause retardation.

2. Biological causes:

A. Prenatal:
medication (unnecessary during pregnancy), maternal diabetes, maternal hypertension, maternal mal-nutrition, maternal chest disease, X-ray, mother age 35 years above etc, are some causes of mental retardation.
B. Perinatal:
Anoxia (oxygen deficiency), complication of pre-maturity, birth trauma or other illness of the child.
C. Post natal:
Jaundice, high fever, typhoid, head injury, epilepsy etc.

3. Environmental causes:

A. early stimulation:
Stimulation means giving the child a variety of opportunities to experience, explore and play with the things around. It involve body movement and the use of all senses.
B. low socio-economic status:
i. low income
ii. less education
C. parents with poor health
D. family of parental conflicts