Cognitive Developmental Disabilities

What Does an Intellectual Disability Mean?

When children receive a diagnosis for a cognitive-developmental disability, they will experience problem-solving, communicating, and learning issues. Your child could have a severe case of this condition, but they could also have a milder case. Those who have a more severe case will usually require even greater support. Luckily, there are many available resources and programs that you could take advantage of, along with ways to receive financial support.

What Cases are Attributed to Cognitive Developmental Disabilities?

Outside of having an intellectual disability, there are cases where your child might have ADHD, ADD, or Autism. Several studies have shown how this could be related to a birth disorder.

How Does This Relate to a Birth Injury?

There are specific cases where a child may experience anoxia or hypoxia, which refers to a lack of oxygen to the brain. After just three minutes without breathing, a child can start to develop brain damage. When labor lasts for over 18 hours, this can put an unnatural amount of pressure on the brain. The human brain wasn’t built to withstand this kind of pressure for that long, leading to brain damage and baby brain disabilities. Your child could even develop cerebral palsy as a result.

How to Tell if Your Child Has This Problem

When your child has a cognitive developmental disability, it may become apparent through some symptoms. For example, they will reach their developmental milestones more slowly than the other children. The milestones are classic goals that a child should achieve from six weeks up until the age of seven. For example, if a child suffers an intellectual disability, they might learn to talk later. They may also have trouble speaking or are unable to solve problems as quickly as other children. Also, they may have trouble understanding some of the social rules set before them.

In some cases, cognitive problems might be directly associated with cerebral palsy. This is because CP usually arises from brain damage through a lack of oxygen during the delivery process. These cognitive disabilities won’t always be debilitating. There are cases where children with these disabilities have exceptional ability. Many times, these children will still have the ability to lead a normal life. Sometimes testing for this can be hard because most children can’t do an intelligence test until they are between four to six years old.