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Mild cognitive delays can be genetic -- basically, there is a range of IQs that occurs naturally and it goes a little above "normal" (as in "gifted" individuals) and a little below ("mild mental retardation"). It's inherited the same way any other intelligence level is inherited, meaning there's no guarantee that there will be much correlation between the parent's IQ and the kid's. That said, the majority of people who are mentally handicapped are not that way because of heredity. In fact, in about 50% of cases there is no one cause that can be pinpointed. A million factors can come into play, such as prenatal exposure to toxins, poor prenatal health care, difficulties during birth, deprived enviroment during early development, etc.
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