What is Global Developmental Delay?

There are many possible causes of GDD, some are permanent, but others aren’t. They include:

• Premature birth
• Genetic condition such as Down Syndrome
• Chromosomal condition such as Fragile X
• Metabolic conditions such as thyroid function
• Problems in pregnancy or during birth such as heavy bleeding or lack of oxygen to the baby
• Vision or hearing loss
• Speech and language difficulties
• Injuries or infections of the brain such as head injury or meningitis
• Ongoing illness and lengthy hospitalisation

Child development is complex and each child with GDD may present differently. There are many areas in child development that they may be delayed in. The delays may be in:

• Speech and language development
• Gross motor development (walking, crawling)
• Fine motor development (holding toys, drawing)
• Thinking, understanding and learning
• Social interaction and how they relate to others (make friends)
• Emotional regulation
• Tasks of daily living (getting dressed, toileting)

The combination of delays and degree of delays will have different impact on how the child and their family can function and how much support they may need. During the process of receiving a diagnosis a child may have to go through a broad range of assessment; including:

• Vision and Hearing tests
• Speech and language assessment
• Behaviour tests
• Cognitive assessment
• Activities of daily living assessment
• Blood tests
• Genetic and chromosomal tests
• MRI
• Neurological test

References:
www.raisingchildren.net.au