What is Cognitive Impairment?
Cognitive impairment is the inability or an abnormality in the thought process of an individual, including their ability to process information. It can range from mild impairment to a more severe condition.
Cognitive impairment specifically affects an individual’s ability to remember things, to process and remember learned things, and be able to make decisions.
Understanding development-related symptoms and features
Symptoms may affect multiple parts of the body. Understanding which part of the body a symptom affects, can help us to better understand the potential underlying causes of a symptom, including a rare disease or genetic syndrome.
Developmental symptoms may affect different parts of an individual’s development. These include their emotional and social development, their physical development, as well as their cognitive and communication skills.
Developmental milestones help to track a child’s developmental progress and flag delays. A delay may be isolated or accompanied by other developmental delays either in the same area and/or in other areas too.
Symptoms relating to development may be many and wide-ranging. They can include a walking delay, issues with speech and language including late talking, trouble socializing with others or with showing emotion.
Cognitive impairment often leads to delays in reaching developmental milestones, such as difficulty with speech, motor skills, and problem-solving.
Individuals with cognitive impairment may struggle with learning new information, retaining memories, and applying cognitive skills in daily life.
What should I do next?
In some instances, cognitive impairment may be one of the features of a rare disease or genetic syndrome. To find out if someone with Cognitive Impairment, may be due to a genetic syndrome, it is important to have a consultation and evaluation with a clinical genetic specialist. Specialists may also suggest specific genetic testing or other types of tests to help reach a diagnosis. FDNA’s AI technology can help speed up the diagnostic process by analyzing facial features and other health information.