What is Global Developmental Delay?
- Wendy Joy
- 3 days ago
- 2 min read
As parents, it’s natural to notice how your child is growing, learning and developing over time. Every child develops at their own pace, but sometimes you may begin to wonder if your child is finding certain areas more challenging than their peers.
You might hear professionals use the term Global Developmental Delay (GDD), but what does this actually mean, and when might it be used? In this blog, we explain what GDD is, how it is identified, and what support may be available.
What is Global Developmental Delay?
GDD is diagnosed when a child under the age of 5 years of age is not meeting some of the expected developmental milestones for their age in two or more areas of their development.
Developmental milestones are different skills that a child usually achieves by a certain age.
The four broad areas of development are:
physical abilities such as crawling, walking, and running (gross motor)
use of their hands (fine motor)
ability to understand and express themselves (communication)
play and interaction with others (social skills)
As a parent you may notice your little one is behind their peers in some areas of development, you can mention this to your health visitor or your GP.
Sometimes a child minder, nursery or pre-school might pick up on some delay and may start a conversation with you about some additional support for your child.
A GDD diagnosis can be given by consultant paediatricians, neurologists or psychologists. The criteria is defined by the DSM-V criteria. This is the key reference used by health professionals to diagnose this presentation.
It is not appropriate for children 5 years and over to have this diagnosis and the recommendations state that if they still have areas of need or challenge at this point, they should be further assessed to look for any underlying cause of the presentation/profile.
Your child may need some support from therapists such as Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy (OT) or Speech and Language Therapy (SALT). Additional support may be needed at nursery or school.
Children with more significant global delay are at risk of developing learning disabilities as they grow older. It is difficult to predict the full extent of these needs at a young age, but we know that early support can make a difference. If your child’s developmental delay is severe, please discuss with the nursery or school SENCO regarding an educational needs assessment.
Further Information About Global Developmental Delay
You may also hear Global Developmental Delay (GDD) referred to simply as developmental delay. If you would like to learn more or access additional support, the following organisations may be helpful:
Our team at TCT are always happy to answer any questions around GDD and we have a very experienced team who are happy to provide fun and practical; ways to support any children with this diagnosis.
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