If you are a child care provider, teacher, or parent, you can be looking for your child’s developmental
milestones each day. Developmental milestones are skills that children learn as they grow and change. Each one is a stepping
stone to the next. During the first year of life, a child’s brain grows quickly, learning new skills all of the time.
Delays or slow progress through these skills is called a Developmental Delay (DD). DD can show in all
skill areas, such as:
1. Cognitive development: ability to learn and solve problems
2. Social/emotional development:
ability to interact with others and show self control
3. Speech/language ability: ability to understand what is being said
and to use self expression
4. Fine motor development: ability to use small muscles
5. Gross motor development: ability
to use large muscles
DD has a higher chance of happening when a child has poor nutrition, prematurity, disease, faces
severe poverty, or has abnormal chromosomes.
Warning signs to look for in children that you care for on a daily basis
may include:
Behavioral: difficulty paying attention, poor eye contact, easily frustrated with regular tasks,
aggressive behavior
Gross motor/
large muscles: stiff arms/legs, floppy/limp posture,
uses one side more than the other, clumsy
Visual: trouble following with eyes, tilts head unusually trying to
see objects, crossed eyes, difficulty picking up objects that fall (after one year of age)
Hearing: talks too
loud or soft, turns body so same ear is close to sound, difficulty understanding what is being said and/or following directions
after age three, slowly developing sounds and words as compared to peers.
**All children move through these milestones
at their own rate and may not do exactly what others do at exactly the same time.
Children can be tested using a developmental
screening or evaluation given by a health or educational professional. A screening is a shorter, general measurement of skills
and the evaluation is a more specific test of strengths and weaknesses. Results are used to decide if a child needs services
to help with the delay shown. These services may include physical therapy (PT) for large muscles, occupational therapy (OT)
for small muscles, speech/language therapy (ST), or developmental play therapy.
If you have concerns about your child
or a child you take care of, it is important that you talk to the family, who can then take the concerns to the pediatrician.
The PCP can then refer the family to the proper agency to begin the process. The earlier the concerns are identified, the
more help the child will be able to receive. If you are unsure if there really is a delay, just ask. The screening and evaluation
are usually fun for the child and can do so much to help the child and the family.
