Management of Children with Intellectual and Developmental Disability in an African Setting

Disability is an umbrella term, covering impairments, activity limitations, and participation restrictions. Impairment is a problem in body function or structure; an activity limitation is a difficulty encountered by an individual in executing a task or action; while a participation restriction is a problem experienced by an individual in involvement in life situations. Thus disability is a complex phenomenon, reflecting an interaction between features of a person’s body and features of the society in which he or she lives (WHO, 2011). This issue is so important that World Health Organization (WHO) and World Bank Group command a report on it (WHO, 2011). People who experience mental health conditions or intellectual impairments appear to be more disadvantaged in many settings than those who experience physical or sensory impairments. Prevalence of children with disabilities vary substantially depending on the definition and measure of disability. Available data suggests that 93 million (5.1%) children aged 0–14 years have moderate or severe disability” (WHO, 2011). This matter is poorly addressed in Africa especially in sub Sahara region. We present here childhood intellectual and developmental disability management in an African setting. We will cover in this prospective survey, diagnosis tools regarding the clinical practices (clinical examination, psychomotor evaluation) with contribution from pediatricians, specialists of psychiatrics and neurologists; laboratory investigations with insight on South-North collaboration in medical genetics sector (cytogenetics and molecular biology); main etiologies; management; social considerations and perspectives in intellectual and developmental disability management in Benin and in West African sub region.