What is global developmental delay?
Global developmental delay is a diagnosis provided to children under the age of 5. This diagnosis is considered when a child fails to meet expected developmental milestones in a variety of areas. The diagnosis can help identify concerns and provide an early intervention plan for children under the age of 7.
This diagnosis is often considered when there are clear delays but the child may not meet other developmental conditions and used to establish the areas that need improvement in the child’s current abilities. Typically, re-assessment of the child’s abilities is required after a period of time, particularly as a child enters primary school.
What does global development delay look like?
Global development delay can present differently in each child. This term is used to indicate when a child takes longer to reach certain developmental milestones compared to other children their age. Some examples of milestones some children may struggle with:
- Learning to walk or talk.
- Movement skills (gripping, pulling and pushing objects).
- Difficulty interacting with others socially including: not responding to their name, apprehension when interacting with familiar family members or friends, lack of curiosity in other children their age and difficulty with playing with others.
- Difficulty interacting with others emotionally including: limited emotions displayed (e.g. rarely smiles), difficulty calming down when upset and lack of curiosity/appropriate reaction of other’s emotions, particularly if the other person is upset.
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