In the previous issues, I have been introducing disorders related to developmental psychology, like dyslexia, ADHD and autism. The trend will continue in this issue.
Grown-up Children
Grown-up Children
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When talking about mental retardation, the first disorder you can think of may be Down syndrome. This is rational, as Down syndrome contributes many of the cases for mental retardation. In fact, other than Down syndrome, there are other disorders that cause mental disability. Fragile X syndrome and Williams syndrome are some of them, and they will be discussed in this issue.
The most practical way to assess mental ability is perhaps IQ (Intelligence Quotient) score. We all know our chronological age, calculated from our birth year. But what about our mental age? It can be assessed by the Stanford-Binet Test.
The most practical way to assess mental ability is perhaps IQ (Intelligence Quotient) score. We all know our chronological age, calculated from our birth year. But what about our mental age? It can be assessed by the Stanford-Binet Test.
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Down syndrome, Fragile X syndrome and Williams syndrome are genetically inherited disorder, relating to the inappropriate division or abnormalities of chromosomes. Do you know how many pairs of chromosomes for normal human? If your answer is 23, then you have got some biological sense! Chromosomes are important elements constructing DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), which controls our physiological development. DNA also distinguishes us from other animals. The numbers of chromosomes are 39 pairs for dogs and 19 pairs for cats. Both Down syndrome and Fragile X syndrome are caused by a trisomy 21st chromosome, which means there are 3 instead of one pair. On the other hand, Williams syndrome is caused by some missing genes on chromosome 7.
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Have you ever met people with strange faces, flat eyes and fairly white skin? They are often relatively shorter in height and more likely to be obese. These are some distinguishable physical appearance of Down syndrome. Other than distortion in physical appearance, they also suffer from motor and neuro-disabilities. They probably have impairment in visual, hearing and heart-beat functioning.
Last but not least, there is one concern to be raised in this article, which is the choice of giving birth to mental retarded babies. As the technology develops, parents are often informed the genetic diseases inherited to the babies before giving birth to it. Raising a mental-retarded child is extremely hard, and requires tones of patience, time and resources. Therefore, think carefully before you make any choices. Every choice carries consequences!
Venus Lai
Reference:
Wicks-Nelson, R. & Israel, A.C. (2006). Behavior Disorders of Childhood (6th ed). New Jersey: Pearson International Edition.
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