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Mental retardation

• Overview
• Symptoms
• Treatment
• Prevention

Symptoms:

• failure to meet intellectual developmental markers
• persistence of infantile behavior
• lack of curiosity
• decreased learning ability
• inability to meet educational demands of school

Note: Variations in normal adaptive behaviors depend on the severity of the condition. Mild retardation may be associated with a lack of curiosity and quiet behavior. Severe mental retardation is associated with infantile behavior throughout life.

Signs and tests:

• development significantly less than that of peers
• an intelligence quotient (IQ) score below 70 on a standardized IQ test
• adaptive behavior score below average
• abnormal Denver developmental screening test

• Review Date: 12/1/2005
• Reviewed By: Daniel Rauch, MD, FAAP, Director, Pediatric Hospitalist Program, Associate Professor of Pediatrics, NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.

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