When should you be concerned whether your child has a developmental delay?
This is a particularly difficult question for young parents and for those who do not have close contact with their extended family. My cousin was the third child in her family and probably the twentieth child among my mother's eight sisters. Since my aunt had seen her other two children and another 18 nieces and nephews as young children, she knew something was wrong when her daughter did not cry at all. Although the first doctor told her that she should just count her blessings that she had a good, quiet baby, my aunt came home and announced to her sisters, "I don't care what he says. There's something wrong when a baby doesn't cry." Eventually, my cousin was identified as hearing impaired and had surgery on her ear canal.
What are the signs of developmental delay?
In infancy, not displaying normal reflexes is a red flag, which is why these are tested at all newborn check-ups. There are several common reflexes tested in infants. For example;
- Rooting - touch your baby's cheek gently with a finger and he should automatically turn toward it.
- Grasping - place your finger in the palm of your baby's hand and he will automatically grasp it.
- Babinski - when you stroke the bottom of your baby's foot, his toes will curl.
When your baby is young, the delays tested are basic ones. As a child gets older, screening will look for more signs of delay in social skills, language and motor skills. A delay in any of these areas nearly always has more than one possibility. For example, a child may not look at faces because he has autism or because he is visually impaired or because he has cerebral palsy which has caused poor neck control. Types of items for screening after the new-born stage include:
- Child responds to name
- Temper tantrums or aggression toward others
- Child responds to gestures, such as waving
- Child uses single words, two- or three-word sentences
These are just a few sample items that may be included in screening.
How can parents help? Should you even be concerned whether you child is delayed or not? Won't he just catch up? What is screening, anyway?
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