A cognitive impairment is caused when the brain is injured or there is something that keeps the brain from developing. This could happen when the baby is growing inside the mother or after the baby is born. Four main categories lead to a cognitive impairment:
Nearly 3 out of every 100 people in the U.S. have a cognitive impairment. Close to 613,000 children ages 6-21 have some level of a cognitive impairment and need special assistance in school.
- Problems during pregnancy: When the baby does not develop properly inside the mother. A mother with some infections can affect the growth of the baby inside her. If a mother drinks alcohol or takes particular drugs, she may well be hurting her baby, and it can cause a cognitive impairment.
- Problems at birth: If a baby does not get enough oxygen during birth, it can cause a cognitive impairment.
- Something passed on from mother or father: Each of us has a map of whom we are within our bodies. This map is written in a code called DNA, which bundled together makes genes. Parents pass on traits such as skin color or height through genes. The genes of the mother and father can combine in a way that the child is born with a cognitive impairment.
- Health problems/accidents: Diseases such as meningitis and the measles can lead to a cognitive impairment. Car crashes, near drowning and other brain injuries are even more common causes.
How common are cognitive impairments?
Nearly 3 out of every 100 people in the U.S. have a cognitive impairment. Close to 613,000 children ages 6-21 have some level of a cognitive impairment and need special assistance in school.
The Arc, 2001, Twenty-fourth Annual Report to Congress, U.S. Department of Education, 2002
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