Consequences

A disability is a physical or mental condition that interferes with or prevents normal achievement in one or more particular areas of functioning. Those standards of achievement, set down for us by society, can relate to the way in which we behave, in the way in which our bodies function, or in the way in which our brains interpret information.

There can be ambiguity regarding the classification of disabilities since many of them have similar indicators or the disabilities themselves lack clear definitions and thresholds of determination.

We have some statistics regarding disabilities:

• overall 6% of U.S children aged 4-17 have ADD/ADHD

• 8% have a learning disability

• 4% have been unhappy, sad, or depressed during the past two months¹

• nearly 150,000 babies, one out of every 28, are born each year with a physical birth defect²

• nearly 50,000 babies are born each year with some type of alcohol-induced damage³

• the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that there may be as many as 2 per 1,000 children with autism4 — a jump from previous estimates of 0.2-0.5 per 1000.5 Although these figures are staggering, there is a good possibility that the statistics are actually significantly higher because of our nation’s poor health tracking system.

While these disabilities are clearly the result of complex interactions among genetic, environmental and social factors, there is sound scientific evidence indicating that there is a much stronger link between toxic exposures in the environment and learning and other developmental disabilities than realized in the past.

The general classifications of disabilities which scientists connect with environmental toxins are:

• Learning Disabilities
• Developmental Disabilities
• Behavioral Disabilities

¹ Gulnur Scott, MPA¹, Gloria A. Simpson, MA¹, Ron Manderscheid, PhD², and Marilyn Henderson, MPA². (1) Division of Health Interview Statistics, National Center for Health Statistics / Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 6525 Belcrest Rd, Room # 850, Hyattsville, MD 20782, 301-458-4085, Gscott@cdc.gov, (2) Center for Mental Health Services
² March of Dimes. Birth defects. Available at http://www.modimes.org/professionals/681_1206.asp
³ March of Dimes. Drinking during pregnancy. Available at http://www.modimes.org/professionals/681_1170.asp
⁴ CDC. Autism among children.
⁵ Gillberg C. and Wing L. Autism: not an extremely rare disorder. Acta Psychiatrica Scan 1999;99(6):399-406