With the understanding that there are many more developmental disabilities that begin early in life, the most common are listed below:

Attention deficit/Hyperactivity disorder (ADHD):

• ADHD is one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders of childhood.
• Diagnosed in childhood it often lasts well into adulthood.
• Characterized by children who have difficulty paying attention and poor impulse control

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD):

• Now includes several conditions that used to be diagnosed separately:
  • autistic disorder
  • pervasive developmental disorder
  • Asperger syndrome
• May cause significant social, communication and behavioral challenges.
• Learning, thinking, and problem-solving abilities can range from gifted to severely delayed
• May be associated with other medical conditions such as epilepsy, food sensitivity and gastrointestinal ulcers
• Appears to be on the rise statistically. (See Table 3)

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Cerebral Palsy (CP):

• Is the most common motor disability in childhood
• Is a group of disorders that affect a person’s ability to move and maintain balance and posture
• Is caused by abnormal development of the brain or damage to the developing brain
• May be congenital or acquired
• Often associated with intellectual disability, seizures, hearing, scoliosis, contractures, speech and vision problems

Hearing Loss:

• Can affect a child’s ability to develop speech, language, and social skills
• May be unilateral or bilateral
• Ranges from mild to profound
• May be auditory, sensorineural, mixed or an auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder

Intellectual Disability (ID):

• Formerly called mental retardation
• Characterized by significant limitations in intellectual functioning (intelligence or mental capacity) and adaptive behavior (social and practical skills)
• Intelligent quotient (IQ) is between 70-75 or below
• Is associated with many genetic or congenital syndromes such as Down Syndrome, Fragile X, Rhett’s Syndrome, Spina Bifida, microcephaly, fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, maternal infections, and environmental toxins

Vision Impairment:

• May range from mild to total blindness
• May be a result of damage to the eye itself, incorrect eye shape or formation, or problem within the brain or cranial nerves
• Occurs 75% of the time with an intellectual disability, cerebral palsy, hearing loss or epilepsy
• About one-third of affected individuals were low birth weight babies and/or premature

Although by no means an exhaustive list, some of the non-developmental or acquired disabilities include persons with the following:

• Non-progressive neurologic diseases such as stroke, spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury
• Progressive neurologic diseases such as Parkinson’s Disease, Alzheimer’s
• Dementia, Multiple sclerosis, Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
• Mental illness
• Chemical dependency

It is important to note however, the categories mentioned above are not mutually exclusive. Depending on the illness several developmental disabilities may also be seen in persons with acquired disabilities such as cognitive impairment, hearing and visual deficits.