Developmental Delays in Kids

Causes of developmental delays in kids

Various factors can contribute to causing developmental delays in kids. They can be caused due to chromosomal, environmental, neurological, or genetic factors. However, some medical conditions can also influence their delayed development process. Some of these conditions include:

1. Cerebral Palsy
2. Genetic conditions
3. Malnutrition
4. Premature birth
5. Poor eyesight and hearing ability
6. Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders
7. Myopathies, such as muscular dystrophies
8. Autism or down syndrome
9. Emergency delivery due to lack of oxygen to the fetus

4-Major areas of developmental delays

1. Cognitive development
   When the child’s intellectual abilities, such as learning, answering, recalling, and calculating ability, do not develop at par with their peers, they are called cognitive development delays.

2. Motor development
   When a baby’s motor skills do not develop effectively, such that they have problems crawling, rolling over, and keeping their heads straight, they are said to have motor development issues. Sometimes, children in the age group of 3-5 years may also have problems in self-feeding, grasping a pencil, holding a ball, etc., due to delays in gross motor development.

3. Speech development
   This is one of the most common issues of development delays in kids. It occurs when children do not acquire sufficient speaking ability as expected in their age group. Such children have difficulty uttering certain syllables and words, have very little vocabulary, and are considered to have developmental speech issues. Some factors causing speech issues are low birth weight, developmental disorders and hearing loss, among others.

4. Socio-emotional development
   Social bonding and emotional connectivity are the most important attributes of humans. When children face problems in social bonding and cannot recognise or respond to emotional gestures such as laughing, clapping with joy, or calling out their names, they might be lagging in the faculty of socio-emotional development.

Parents must recognize the symptoms of developmental delays in their children and consult a neurologist or specialist for development delay treatment for their child.

Symptoms of developmental delays

1. Delayed and inaccurate motor actions

2. Delayed speech

3. A problem in holding a pencil or self-feeding

4. Stiff arms and legs

5. Problem sitting or standing

At Neuropedia, our team investigates each case with a special prognostic approach. Our specialist communicates to the child to understand their behaviour presentation. Once the diagnosis is made, a series of therapeutic and conservative treatments are applied for development delay treatment. The therapies include-

1. Physiotherapy

2. Speech therapy

3. Educational therapy

4. Occupational therapy

5. ABA or Applied Behavioral Analysis Therapy

6. Occupational therapy

7. Therapies to manage conditions like spasticity, epilepsy, etc.