• As per NSSO Survey 58th round, the number of disabled persons estimated is 18.53 million forming 1.8 percent of total population.

• 84% of mentally retarded and 82% of persons having speech disabilities are born with the disability.
• 10.63 of disabled persons are suffering from more than one type of disabilities.

Some Facts About Mental Retardation:

• Mental retardation is not mental illness.
• Any damage to the brain of the child during pregnancy, during delivery or after birth can cause mental retardation.
• Medical care during pregnancy, delivery helps preventing mental retardation.
• General Hospital, Special schools, Child Guidance Centre, child Specialist, Psychiatrist, Psychologist and Special Educators can provide required help.

IS AUTISM and MENTAL RETARDATION THE SAME?

No, AUTISM and MR is not the same.

• Autism is a severely incapacitating lifelong developmental disability that beings at birth or during the first three years of life. It affects the person’s abilities in communication and social interactions. It occurs in every five out of 10,000 births. It is a syndrome, a combination of certain behavioural characteristics, which is present in varying degree of activity.

Mental Retardation refers to sub average general intellectual functioning, which originates during the developmental period and is associated with impairements in adoptive behaviour.