Subjects:
Children With Special Health Care Needs, Cognition/Language/Learning Disorders, Community Pediatrics, Developmental/Behavioral Pediatrics, Journal CME, Medical Education
Topics:
adaptive functioning, cognitive ability, comorbidity, genetics, intellectual disability, fragile x syndrome, early intervention (education), special education, rett's disorder, microcephaly

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Intellectual disability (ID) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that is characterized by deficits in both intellectual functioning and adaptive functioning, whose onset is in the developmental period. (1) It affects approximately 1% to 3% of the population. (2) Intellectual disability has replaced the former term, mental retardation, through a federal statute (Rosa’s Law, Public Law 111-256). Global developmental delay (GDD) is the term used to describe children aged 0 to 5 years with significant delays in 2 or more areas of development. (1) Although these delays may be transient, it is estimated that approximately two-thirds of children diagnosed as having GDD would eventually carry the diagnosis of ID after 5 years of age. (3)

As part of routine health-care visits, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends developmental surveillance at every well-child visit and...

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