Developmental delay: When to suspect it and when to refer

摘要

Developmental delay and global developmental delay are terms used to describe children who take longer to reach their milestones than might be expected. They are very common conditions, and we will all have consultations with carers of children who express concern about an aspect of a child's development. This article will look at when to suspect developmental delay, what to do and when to refer. A child's developmental skills can be split into four domains: gross motor skills, fine motor skills and vision, personal and social, language, and hearing. Developmental delay in a single domain is veiy common and affects approximately 5-10 of children (Bellman et al, 2013). The key milestones in each developmental area are listed in Table 1. This article will briefly consider some important features of each particular skill set, discuss global developmental delay (GDD) and then consider the assessment of a child with possible developmental delay.