In children with developmental delays, key skills (language, motor skills and judgment) lag behind those of their peers. With time and therapy, these children may catch up to others in their age group.

Once known as “mentally retarded”, people with developmental disabilities are diagnosed before the age of 22 with cognitive impairments, including an IQ level of 70 or less, that affect everyday living for their entire lives. For a majority of these people, nothing they did led to their cerebral palsy, epilepsy, spina bifida, autism or other conditions which caused their developmental disability. Despite these irreversible conditions, they can enjoy long, satisfying lives.