What is developmental delay?  

The term developmental delay is used in a very general way when a baby does reach developmental milestones within the expected time frame for their age. These milestones encompass various areas of growth and skill development, including physical, cognitive, communication, social, and emotional domains.

Children typically follow a predictable sequence of developmental milestones, such as sitting, crawling, walking, talking, and acquiring social skills. However, when a child lags significantly behind their peers in achieving these milestones, it may indicate a developmental delay.

There are many reasons why a baby may not achieve their milestones in the usual way including pre-term birth, difficult birth, Down syndrome, generalized joint hypermobility, low muscle tone autism to name a few.

However, no matter what the reason is for the developmental delay, these babies and toddlers have the capacity for learning new skills given the right opportunities for practicing age appropriate tasks that have been adapted to allow them to succeed.