Developmental delay is a frequently mentioned problem today. This problem is frequently seen in children who are raised as apartment children and are not provided with sufficient stimulation. This problem, seen in various areas, arises from the caregiver's inability to spend quality time with the child and the child's isolation from his/her peers.
Developmental delay can be seen in many areas. There may be delays in areas such as language development, motor development, social development and cognitive development. For example; The child may not be able to form 2-3 word sentences appropriate to his age. He may be behind in terms of language development. As another area of physical development, there may be delays in motor areas such as grasping, running, walking and jumping. The most important and frequently experienced delays are in social communication. The child cannot communicate with his peers and may fulfill his wishes by shouting, crying and attacking. In such a case, the child can integrate with his/her peers and learn how to communicate. However, if the retardation in question is in the mental field, individual development programs may be useful in this regard.
How is developmental delay detected? What should families do when they realize there is a problem?
When the family realizes that the child is behind in some skills, they should consult a child development specialist. The child is evaluated and the extent of his/her retardation in which areas is determined with the Denver II Developmental Screening Test inventory. A study program is prepared accordingly. In this process, we work with the child until the developmental delay disappears.
The biggest mistake families make when they learn that their child has developmental delay is to believe that this will get better over time. However, as the process progresses, the developmental gap between the child and his/her peers widens and the solution to this becomes more difficult for the specialist. It should not be forgotten that early diagnosis is very important. Developmental delay is not an unsolvable problem. It is important to identify this process early and start working to resolve it.
Even if the family does not receive the signals, every normally developing child should be checked by a child development specialist every 6 months. Because the specialist sees early signs of developmental delay that the family does not see, and He can intervene before the net is formed.
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