Understanding Global Delay
Overview
A global delay is when there is a lag in the development of language, social, cognitive, and/or motor skill milestones; it can present as a global delay or indicate milder forms or singular developmental delays in a skill area. There are many reasons a child could present with developmental delay, some refer to previous pregnancy complications, prematurity, or genetic factors, but sometimes the cause is unknown. All children will develop developmental milestones at their own pace, and some may progress through skills faster or slower. Two siblings cannot be similar from the same family, and this can show delays at different rates.
Minor delays that are temporary do not typically indicate a deeper concern for future challenges; however, an ongoing delay or more than one delay could present as an indication that there may be challenges in the future. If you feel that your child is presenting with developmental delay, consult with your pediatrician. Global delay can occasionally indicate an actual medical condition that can only be evaluated and formally diagnosed by a physician. Once you have a diagnosis, you can make plans for treatment, or other early interventions, or therapies to help your child make progress and grow into adulthood.
What is Global Delay?
Global Delay is a term used when children have a delay in all developmental and functional abilities. Children will often develop skills and abilities at fairly predictable ages. When they have a Global Delay, children will develop the skills and ability, but at much older ages. The development of children can be categorised into four parts:
Social and Emotional Skills - Children who with difficulty in social or emotional skills due to neurobehavioral disorders such as attentio deficit hyperactivity disorder and autism spectrum disorder, may have existing and or concomitant delays in their emotional, behavioural, or social development. Normally, these developmental differences and experiences relate to the way their brain develops and operates, meaning they can process information, behaviors, thoughts and emotions overall, quite differently, than their same-aged peers without developmental delays These delays can negatively affect the child's durability to learn, interact and communicate with others in a normalized way.
Motor Skills - the nature of the delay refers to a child's ability to coordinate either gross motor movements involving larger muscle groups or fine motor movements involving smaller muscles, such as muscles of the hand. A small kid who deals with gross motor delay might have difficulty rolling over or crawling, and an older child who has this type of delay can appear to be clumsy or might face difficulty while walking up and down stairs. A child who deals with fine motor delay will have difficulty holding small objects, brushing their teeth, and performing many other normal activities.
Cognitive Delay- cognitive delays can impact a child's intellectual functioning, affecting their awareness of their environment, and they may also encounter learning issues that tend not to manifest until a child is in an educational context. Children who are dealing with cognitive delays might face difficulties while communicating and playing in social settings. Cognitive delays may occur in children who have sustained brain injury, such as infection, like meningitis, which can create swelling in the brain called encephalitis. Other biological contributors to cognitive skill delays may include shaken baby syndrome, seizure disorder, and some chromosomal disorders that can impact the level of intellectual functioning, such as Down syndrome.
Speech and Language - A speech delay can be both a receptive language disorder or not understand words and concepts, such as not being able to identify colours, shapes or body parts. Expressive language disorder is a child has few words and is unable to combine words into more complex sentences for their age. A child with a speech delay may have a slow development of babbling and sentences or talking. Moreover, a child dealing with speech delays has a mix of both receptive and expressive delays.
Symptoms of Global Delay
It is important to remember that two children with global delays cannot be the same, however, the symptoms differ widely. As you will see below, the symptoms and severity can vary widely in each child. Here are some signs and symptoms to look for that a child with global developmental delay might have.
Delayed in having met developmental milestones
Delays in motor skills
Motor coordination difficulties
Communication issues, limited vocabulary, speech delays
Social and emotional delays mean having difficulties with relationships and relating to peers
Behavioural issues, impulsivity, hyperactivity
Possible sensory processing issues
Learning and academic difficulties
Difficulty with fine motor skills
Problems solving difficulties
Remedies for Global Delay
Global delay can look different for different people, therefore, treatment methods will vary depending on each person's specific areas of need and challenges. With early introduction and personal support, kids with a global delay can overcome their problem and reach their potential. If your child is diagnosed with global delay, the treatments that can be helpful to deal with the global delay are:
Therapy provided by speech therapy experts helps children learn how to use their language to express what they need through their understanding of vocabulary or through other forms of communication. Speech therapy can be an effective means to assist children who have a global delay to improve their communication skills, social communication, or language development.
Occupational therapy supports those who are dealing with global delay and develops the necessary daily living skills such as bathing, eating, dressing, and so on. These therapists help in the development of fine and gross motor skills, which helps with independence and motor planning.
Through a physiotherapist, support children who are dealing with delays in coordination, motor skills,, physical strength or balance. Physiotherapists can assist the child to develop skills and support children to progress with addressing their motor delays through exercises.
Preschool and kindergarten special education programs of study can provide individualised special education supports when a child faces developmental delays.
Conclusion
In some children, a global delay may present as a temporary delay and a child may progress and get to the same level of development as a group with the help of physiotherapy intervention. In others, developmental delay may be classified as a learning difficulty, which may mean that a child will demonstrate neurological development different from the average or typical group of children. This does mean that there will be children who will find it more difficult to learn and to complete developmental tasks. For this reason, a child may find it difficult to 'grow out of' this delay, and this may get bigger as time goes on and the gap for development increases between him or her and their peers.
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