ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the reasons why older persons with developmental disabilities have been identified as a group in need of new services, programs, and initiatives. The term "developmental disabilities" suggests a wide range of conditions that are evident at or prior to birth or at least in childhood. Although much of the research emphasizes mental retardation, the term developmental disabilities includes such conditions as autism, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, or other lifelong neurological and/or cognitive impairments. There are four key elements in the definition of developmental disabilities. First, these disabilities are primarily for the end of life. Second, all of these forms of disabilities are impairments that complicate the affected individual’s ability to participate fully in social life. Third, in developmental disabilities, these conditions are not due to mental illness or physical disease, though these conditions, too, can pose similar types of problems, especially in periods of relapse. Finally, these categories are neither definitive nor exclusive.
