Before we start talking about the potential risks of developmental delays in children, it is essential to understand what the word ‘developmental delay’ actually means. Developmental disabilities are a group of conditions due to an impairment in physical, learning, language, or behavior areas. Therefore, a developmental delay refers to a child who has not gained the developmental skills expected of him or her, compared to others of the same age. Now, Developmental delays are common in childhood, occurring in ¼ of preschool children. But that doesn’t refer that the parents must ignore the symptoms just because they are common. There are many signs and indicators that can exist in children and may differ upon specific attributes. Sometimes you may see signs in infancy, but in other cases, they may not be noticeable until your child reaches school age.

Let’s discuss some potential risks of late identification of developmental delays in children.

• Speech impairment: The child develops speech sound disorder i.e., unable to say speech sounds in words. This includes stuttering, apraxia, and dysarthria. This also leads to a lack of speech inflection i.e, the pitch and tone patterns in a person's speech, where the voice rises and falls. The child mispronounces words and often make unclear statements.

• Narrow interests: The child starts showing a lack of interest in activities, books and is often helpless in focusing on a particular one for a longer time. This habit is also found in younger ones but with time they improve their concentration and are able to focus on a subject for a comparably long time.

• Clumsiness: The child is clumsy when performing motor skills like while walking, running, and other muscle movements. They wobble and are unable to master their body movements. For some, it is even difficult to catch a ball.

• Discomfort talking to others: Children have difficulty talking to others, developing friendships. This is because they have trouble with starting and keeping the conversion going. They have trouble maintaining eye contact.

• Unknown to regular needs: They often have trouble with basic daily needs like brushing teeth, going restroom, tying a basic knot of the shoelace, holding a spoon/fork, or even a glass, wearing clothes, and other similar things. This becomes harder with time.

• Prone to diseases: Such children have a high probability of contracting diseases like asthma, high blood pressure, some allergies like food, respiratory, and skin allergy. It can also cause gastrointestinal (GI) problems.

• Mental health issues: Medical researchers have proposed a connection between ADHD, and anxiety disorders. It shows high rates of anxiety in the ASD population and especially high rates of social anxiety disorder (SAD). They have difficulty sleeping, obsessive thinking, and difficulty concentrating.

Research shows that parents are good at picking up on early signs of autism. So if you’re concerned, ask your doctor for a referral to a developmental pediatrician or psychologist who specializes in the disorder. It is widely known that the Early diagnosis is the most effective way of reducing the individual burden of the disease, decreasing morbidity, and improving quality of life.

The early, the better.

Source: Developmental delay