Facts
on Mental Retardation
General
Facts:
ü
It is estimated that approximately 3% of the general population
has mental retardation.
ü
Fifty percent of all new cases of mental retardation can be
prevented.
ü
Mental retardation is 10 times more common than cerebral palsy, 28
times more prevalent that neural tube deficits and affects 25 times more people
as blindness.
ü
Mental retardation cuts across the lines of racial, ethnic,
educational, social and economic backgrounds.
ü
One out of 10 American families is directly affected by mental
retardation.
ü
Mental retardation, unlike mental illness, is a life-long
condition that cannot be cured.
ü
Although mental retardation and mental illness are completely
different conditions, experts estimate that mental illness is three
to four times more common in people with mental retardation and developmental
disabilities than it is in the general public.
Specific
to Texas:
ü
Approximately 570,000 Texans have mental retardation.
Eighty nine percent of people with mental retardation have mild mental
retardation.
ü
Approximately 6,000 children are born in Texas each year that
have, or will acquire, mental retardation.
ü
Over 19,000 Texans with mental retardation are on waiting lists
for services that can prevent costly institutionalization; many have waited over
7 years. (TDMHMR, May 2002)
ü
Of those families on the waiting lists for community mental
retardation services, 1,764 believe they are at-risk of a family crisis and
could need out-of-home placement within the next year.
(TDMHMR, May 2002)
ü
Texas ranks 42nd for overall fiscal effort for
developmental disabilities. (University
of Colorado, 2002).
ü
Texas ranks 43rd for community-based services fiscal
efforts, while ranking 24th in the nation in institutional fiscal
efforts. (University of Colorado,
2002).
ü Only 1% of Texans with mental retardation lives in the state’s largest institutions. The other 99% live in our communities with families, friends or in community-living residences.