What Is Developmental Delay?
Developmental delay is a term used to describe a condition where a child’s development is slower than what would be expected for their age. As each child is unique in their own, it’s expected that they will develop at a rate normal to them, however some children can take longer than usual to develop certain skills. Infants and young children are most affected by developmental delays as this is the time in their lives where they will learn many of the basic building blocks to human life. Common areas developmental delays may occur are with language, speech, vision, movement (motor skills), social skills, emotional skills and thinking (cognitive skills).
Although the range for normal child development is quite large, certain milestones can help parents and doctors determine whether your child is experiencing a developmental delay. Common signs associated with this condition include:
- Poor balance
- Incontinence problems
- Lack of body awareness
- Fine motor control problems
- Slow language development
- Lack of hand-eye coordination
- Difficulties controlling movements
- Trouble holding or picking up objects
- Failure to respond quickly to surroundings
- Taking longer than usual to learn new skills
- Difficulties producing controlled speech including breathing and phonation