Knowra Developmental disability Developmental disability Developmental disability is an umbrella term for conditions involving significant limitations in intellectual functioning, adaptive behavior, or both, with onset during the developmental period.
Intellectual disability : A condition marked by significant limitations in intellectual functioning and adaptive behavior, originating during development. It is one specific condition captured by many definitions of developmental disability.
Neurodevelopmental disorder : A group of conditions arising during brain development and affecting cognition, behavior, communication, or motor function. This broader diagnostic family includes several conditions associated with developmental disability.
Developmental assessment : Evaluation of a person's skills and progress across developmental domains. It identifies support needs and possible delays without relying on a single test.
Developmental delay : A significant lag in expected developmental milestones, often used as an early-childhood designation. Delay may describe a young child's current profile without establishing a lifelong disability.
Adaptive behavior : The conceptual, social, and practical skills people use to meet everyday demands. Limitations in these skills can establish disability even apart from measured intellectual ability.
Genetic disorder : A health condition caused by changes in genes or chromosomes. Genetic changes explain some developmental disabilities, though many have no identified genetic cause.
Individualized Education Program : A United States legal plan specifying special education and related services for an eligible student with a disability. It translates assessed educational needs into documented school services and goals.
Autism spectrum disorder : A neurodevelopmental condition involving differences in social communication and restricted or repetitive behaviors or interests. Autism can qualify as a developmental disability under some systems, but the terms are not interchangeable.
Intellectual functioning : Mental abilities involved in reasoning, learning, problem-solving, and understanding complex ideas. Its assessment helps identify one dimension of developmental disability.
Fragile X syndrome : An inherited genetic condition caused by a CGG-repeat expansion in the FMR1 gene. It is a genetic cause of intellectual disability and other developmental differences.
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