Finally! Can we now, *please,* change our language to match the truth?!!!

So. For months, now, I've had this C.P.-related design idea for a Zazzle Tee-shirt/mug/whatever that, today, sent me searching for images of infant brains showing C.P.. And that led to reading paragraphs around the images. And just now, I found the following (from a site aimed at medical people, based on the vocabulary):

(Quote) Approximately 30-50% of patients with cerebral palsy have mental retardation, depending on the type.[6, 7] However, because of oromotor, fine motor, and gross motor difficulties, communication in these patients may be impaired and expression of intellectual capacity may be limited. However, if cerebral palsy is approached in a multidisciplinary manner, with physical, occupational, and nutritional therapy to maximize rehabilitative efforts, patients can be more fully integrated academically and socially* (Unquote)

[Emphasis my own.]

This is what I have been saying for 20-something years, now. But if that second sentence is true, then the first sentence is false. Let me try to fix it:

Approximately 30-50% of people with cerebral palsy may not have been given full educational opportunities, and are thus classified as mentally retarded.

There! That's better!

From Medicine-Science: Cerebral Palsy (Posted by admin, August 6, 2011)

Cerebral Palsy statistics (edited: Buh-Wha?! answred. GRAH! remains)

(I'll cross-posting this to disability and no_pity)

Been looking for some hard numbers, because I've had this idea for a series of "Statement" tee-shirts, protesting the wording of commonly quoted stats relating to "Developmental Disabilities" (Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Down Syndrome), and I thought I'd start with C.P., since that's the shirt I'd wear.

I found one site which is (relatively) non-rage-inducing, because it's not as scare-talking as the doctor and lawyer-sponsored sites: My Child Without Limits.

Here's the paragraph I found on C.P. Stats:

(quote) It is estimated that two out of every 1,000 newborn children will develop cerebral palsy. And approximately 40% of those born with cerebral palsy will have a severe case. Right now, about 10,000 babies and infants are diagnosed with the condition each year. In 2002, the number of cerebral palsy cases in 8-year-old children was found to be one in 278. It is the most common motor disorder in children and is second only to autism as the most common disability in children.(unquote)

Okay, that first stat I've seen left, right, and center (though saying "2 out of 1,000" is clunkier than "1 in 500"). But how does it almost double between infants eight-year-old kids?

( Wherein I puzzle this out )

Anyway, the design I was thinking of will state something along these lines:

"One in X infants will have Y-condition -- Means: One in X adults live with Y-Condition. (We are among you! Ooooo!)" ... Spoofing the old sci-fi horror flicks.

But now, I'm not sure which numbers to use.

My "Grah!" is the perennial sort: Why are we only talked about as infants and children? Why are all the sites on information and support groups aimed at our parents and teachers?

( ETA: )