"Developmental disability" is a term that includes many types of disabilities that occur in the ‘developmental' years, prior to the age of 22. Developmental disabilities are life-long and chronic. A person with a developmental disability will have substantial functional limitations in two or more of the following areas: self-care, receptive and expressive language, learning, mobility, self direction, capacity for independent living, and economic self-sufficiency.

Developmental disabilities include, but are not limited to: mental retardation, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, autism, Down Syndrome, learning disability related to brain dysfunction, or a head/spinal cord injury that occurs prior to the age of 22.

There are many social, environmental, and physical causes of developmental disabilities, although, for some, a definitive cause will never be determined. Common factors causing developmental disabilities include: brain injury or infection before, during, or after birth; growth or nutrition problems; abnormalities of chromosomes and genes; poor diet and health care; drug misuse during pregnancy, including excessive alcohol intake and smoking.

For more information on the different types of developmental disabilities, go to www.moddrc.org.