Understanding Developmental Delay: Causes, Types, and Early Signs

Suppose you have been watching your child to see how they grow, but you suspect a delay in development for your child and don't know where to begin. 

Dr. Shanda Morris, Dr. Bush, and Dr. Mark Parrott of A Caring Touch Pediatrics, located in Lexington, KY, are available to discuss your child's suspected developmental delay, the causes, types, and signs to look for in the future. 

Types of Growth Development 

• Gross - Fine Motor Skills - Gross motor skills are rolling over, crawling, and walking, and fine (small controlled) motor skills involve picking up and grasping small objects, grasping utensils, and using them, among other skills
• Language - Speech skills - Involving speaking, holding a conversation, and processing language to talk back to another person
• Emotional-Social Skills - Comprehending verbal and non-verbal cues in a social setting, signs of delay may include trouble expressing self to others, getting emotional needs met, trouble with changes happening in social settings
• Mental-Cognitive Skills – Delays include problems with solving real-life problems, difficulty understanding new information, and following multi-step directions or functioning in a school setting

 Your child can show delays in one or more of these areas or be okay with a type but have a problem in one small area. For example, your child may show average mental-cognitive skills, but delays in sentence formation and spelling. 

Early Symptoms of Developmental Issues

According to our pediatric doctors at A Caring Touch Pediatrics located in Lexington, KY, early signs of a developmental delay are listed below.   

• Stiff or floppy, loose limbs, low muscle tone that does not support normal development (sitting, crawling, standing).
• Not being responsive to names or attempts at conversation, inability or difficulty forming simple words, repeated movements, and lack of facial expressiveness. 

Causes of Delay Issues

Although the exact cause of development issues may be hard to pinpoint, your child may have developed some delays in utero, or these delays may be associated with a primary developmental condition such as Autism or Down Syndrome. 

Other issues that may cause delay are Fragile X syndrome, cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, fetal alcohol syndrome, utero infection, complications in pregnancy, or premature birth. 

The positive news is that early detection in children from birth up to age three can result in better progress in gaining growth and development.

Call Today to Schedule Your Appointment with Our Pediatricians! 

Call Dr. Morris, Dr. Bush, and Dr. Parrott of A Caring Touch Pediatrics at 859-264-0660 in Lexington, KY. We look forward to your child's appointment to discuss a suspected developmental delay and how to diagnose those delays. We can help you and your child!