Rolling over, sitting up, walking, talking...these are few of the important developmental milestones your child will have. If your child misses any of these milestones, it means that she is experiencing developmental delays. Most often, these developmental delays occur in more than one area. For example, if your child has speaking and language issues, she is also most likely to go through social and cognitive delays.
These delays in your little one’s development can be due to various factors. From preconception issues and prenatal infections to some kind of birth injury and low birth weight, many factors can result in the delays. However, these cause can be subsumed under four main categories, according to an article in livestrong.com:
• Genetic factors: These cause Down syndrome, Fragile X syndrome, Rett syndrome and muscular dystrophy. These result in multiple delays in physical, communication and social development.
• Biological factors: These include hearing loss, vision loss, lead poisoning or head injuries.
• Pregnancy factors: Pregnancy-related issues affecting the fetus include Rh incompatibility (blood incompatibility), alcohol and drug exposure, viral infections and toxemia (blood borne toxic substances). In addition, premature or low birth weight babies may experience developmental delays.
• Environmental factors: This includes neglect and abuse. Lack of consistent care in early childhood may result in motor, language, social and cognitive developmental delays.
To know more about developmental delays in children and what triggers them, read through the articles in our ClipBook.
The risk factors for developmental delays fall into two broad categories: Genetic or chromosomal abnormalities such as Down's syndrome or Fragile X syndrome and other disorders put a child at risk for developmental delays.
Developmental delays occur when a child does not reach developmental milestones, such as rolling over, sitting up, walking and talking, at the same time as other children.
Genetic disorders are the most commonly identified causal factor for intellectual and other disabilities and include single gene disorders, multifactorial and polygenic disorders, and chromosomal abnormalities.
Late preterm babies born from 34 to 36 weeks of pregnancy may be at an increased risk for modest developmental and academic problems up to age 7 when compared to babies born at full term.
High-risk newborns, such as those with very low weight at birth, are more susceptible to developmental delays and subsequent disability than healthy newborns, say, Indian researchers, highlighting the gap in early diagnosis in rural settings.
Developmental delays can occur from a number of things, some unpreventable, like inherited or genetic problems. Other causes of developmental delays, however, are preventable.
Low birthweight (LBW), with or without prematurity is a risk factor that contributes to developmental delays. Much research has been undertaken to determine the etiology of LBW and assess its impact on a variety of infant-toddler behaviours.
Pediatric specialists identify several types of developmental delays in children. These delays can affect a child’s physical, cognitive, communication, social, emotional, or behavioral skills.
All babies develop at different rates, but in some cases, developmental delays may be diagnosed with problems such as language or speech; vision; movement and motor skills; social and emotional skills; thinking and cognitive skills.
Every child grows and learns at his own pace, and the range of what’s normal is pretty wide. It’s helpful, though, to know the signs that your child might not have the skills most other kids have at his age. Doctors call those problems development...
