11 Facts About Mental Disabilities

Source- dosomething.org

1. About 5.5 million of U.S. children aged 6-17 have been diagnosed with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).
2. Boys are more than twice as likely to be diagnosed with ADHD than girls.
3. An estimated 12 of every 1,000 U.S. school children have mental retardation, a disorder characterized by a significantly below average score on a test of mental ability and limitations in such areas as self-direction; school, work, and leisure activities; and daily-living, social, and communication skills.
4. About 1 in 5 children have a language-based disability. One is called dyslexia, a learning disability that manifests primarily as a difficulty with written language, particularly with reading and spelling.
5. Autism affects about two to six in every 1,000 kids, but no one knows what causes it.
6. Kids who have autism usually keep to themselves and some can't communicate without special help.
7. Every six out of 10,000 children have some form of pervasive developmental disorder (PDD), which means they have some but not all symptoms of autism.
8. Over three million Americans (approximately 1%) stutter. An estimated 20% of children go through a phase of stuttering.
9. Stuttering affects four times as many males as females.
10. Anxiety disorders affect about 40 million American adults (about 18%) in a given year. Most developed symptoms as children, but since anxiety disorders are often overlooked or misjudged, they were never treated and consequently carried the disorder into adulthood.
11. If left untreated, children with anxiety disorders are at higher risk to do poorly in school and are more vulnerable to drug and alcohol abuse