Hey there! My name is Petra and I am really honored to have an opportunity to write for such an amazing campaign, #visible.

The topic is, as the title says 'Developmental Disorders and Disabilities'.

I hope you will understand and support the idea of this topic!

So first of all, I will explain this chapter title for the ones who may not know much about it.

Developmental disorders/disabilities Is a group of psychiatric conditions, they are present from early life and involve serious impairment in different areas.

They usually improve as the child grows older, but they also entail impairments that continue through adult life.

The difference between developmental and other types of disabilities is that we are able to notice that individuals have them the moment we see them based on their behavior, posture or actions. They cannot be completely healed, but people who have them can improve to some point.

Everyone has seen a person with developmental disabilities at least a couple of times or maybe even have a family member with it. You can easily tell that individual with disabilities is different when you see him/her. But people often, when noticing them consider them deranged and 'different'.  People don't realize they are still human and that they aren't less "worthy" because of their disorder. They haven't done anything wrong and families should not be judged because of it.

To understand a little better, I will introduce/remind you which are the most common developmental disabilities. It is common with people who have developmental disabilities to have a combination of disorders, and not just one.  Here are a list of some of the most common conditions you will have heard of, and rarer conditions that you may not have:

ATTENTION-DEFICIT HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER

Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common neurobehavioral disorders. ADHD is a lifelong disorder that can negatively impair many aspects of daily life if not treated, including home, school, work and interpersonal relationships.

Most common signs:

-Inattention (being disorganized, lacking focus, being easily distracted)

-Hyperactivity (frequently running and walking.

-Hyperactivity (frequently running and walking, talking excessively)

-Impulsivity (impatience, interrupting and intruding on others)

PERVASIVE DEVELOPMENTAL DISORDERS

Pervasive developmental disorders (PDD) are a group of developmental disabilities that can cause significant social, communication and behavioral challenges.

-The most characteristic and best studied PDD is Autism.

Other types of PDD include Asperger's Syndrome, Childhood Disintegrative Disorder and Rett's Syndrome.

AUTISM

Autism (ASD) is a disorder of the cortex, which controls higher functions, sensations, muscle movements and memory.

ASD is one of the most common developmental disorder and there are many different types of it.

Every child's symptoms are a little different and are improving differently.

Most common signs:

-A lack of empathy

-Having issues with, or not talking at all

-Unusual focus in certain areas/ interest in certain thigs

-Need for repetition and routines

-Body posture, stereotyped behavior (hand flapping and body rocking e.g.)

FRAGILE X SYNDROME

Fragile X Syndrome is a genetic disorder and is the most common form of inherited mental retardation.

- Individuals with this disorder often have distinctive physical features, such as a long face, large prominent ears and hyper extensible joints

CENTRAL AUDITORY PROCESSING DISORDER

Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD) is a complex and often misunderstood neurological disorder that occurs in individuals with normal hearing who have a reduced or impaired ability to discriminate, recognize, or understand sounds.

-They may have difficulties hearing amidst distracting background noise

- Remembering information

- Discriminating between similar sounds or words

- Listening long enough to complete a task.

CEREBRAL PALSY

Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of disorders that affect a person's ability to move and maintain balance and posture.

- Children with cerebral palsy may not be able to walk, talk, eat, or play in the same ways as most other children.

EXPRESSIVE LANUAGE DISORDER

Expressive language disorder is a developmental disorder where a child will have problems expressing him or herself in speech.

-Characteristics may include limited vocabulary.

-Difficulty recalling words and producing complex or lengthy sentences.

LANDAU-KLEFFNER SYNDROME

Landau-Kleffner Syndrome (LKS) is a childhood disorder that is characterized by a progressive loss of the ability to understand and use spoken language, following a period of normal speech development.

BIPOLAR DISORDER

Bipolar disorder (or manic depression) is a form of mood disorder characterized by a variation of moods that fluctuate between a manic phase of elation, hyperactivity and hyper imagination, and a depressive phase of inhibition, slowness to conceive ideas and move, and anxiety or sadness.

MENTAL RETARDATION

Mental retardation is a disability that occurs in childhood characterized by limitations in intellectual functioning and adaptive skills.

-A person with mental retardation may have difficulties with communication, conceptual skills, social skills, self-care, home living, social skills, community use, self-direction, health and safety, functional academics, leisure, and work.

* * *

Many people today are unfamiliar with this topic and lack of knowledge makes the situation worse. Lack of knowledge can lead to the judgement of people with these disorders.

That can cause an impact on the entire family, including not taking those who have Developmental disorders out into public places. This significantly complicates their capacity for improving, for example, communication or developing social skills in general.

Their absence creates a different image of our society- people are not used to being surrounded by them which leads to the first issue, unfamiliarity with different people.

Let's take this situation as an example-

An 8-year-old child is freely walking around in the city with his parents, clapping hands and jumping.

When random people look at them, they would- you would hope, realise that the child has a developmental disorder, acknowledge they are doing no harm, and just go about their day. Sadly though, that is not everyone.  Many would look at them in some kind of disgust and shamelessly stare, or they would not know what to think about it and feel awkward around them.

My younger brother has a couple of developmental disabilities.

When he went to kindergarten, workers were isolating him from the other kids. He hardly ever ate when they all did and once when he was bored, he even managed to run away. After that my mother talked to them before enrolling him into other one.

Nobody is born judgmental, if we are raised to accept and respect every human being, understanding the fact that we are all equal, this world would be a way better place than is it now.

Petra