Date Time
Confirmed by research: Intellectual disability is rarely inherited – Risk for younger siblings is low
Intellectual disability is most often caused by changes to the genome that take place in early foetal development and are not found in the parents’ DNA. This is why the risk of recurrence in the next sibling of the family is very small, as indicated by a study conducted at the University of Helsinki. Furthermore, Finns do not have a higher risk of inherited developmental disorders compared to other Europeans.
The prevalence of intellectual disabilities, which means difficulties with learning and understanding new things, is roughly 1-2% in the population. People with a severe intellectual disability need help from others in daily activities throughout their lives.