Could Your Child Be Developmentally Delayed?

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Do you sense that there might be something wrong with your child's development? Find out when it is important to call a doctor or see a specialist.

My friends Dave and Patricia have two kids, Xavier and Declan. They're what are technically known as "beautiful" boys: huge eyes, long lashes, button noses, and mischievous grins. Both are sociable and cuddly, but while six-year-old Xavier speaks like an adult, two-year-old Declan doesn't talk yet.

In fact, until a month ago Declan had not even begun to babble or imitate the outside world. He laughed, cried, and screamed with gusto, but the critical aspect of language development was missing. Fortunately, Patricia is trained to help kids with special needs, and she and Dave have been able to get Declan the help that he needed.

Chances are if your child is developmentally delayed, you and your pediatrician will pick up on milestones that just aren't being met.

Checking Developmental Milestones

The first step in recognizing possible delays in development is to compare your child's abilities with the expectations for the average child at his or her age. The following milestones for social interaction and language skills come from First Signs, Inc., a national non-profit organization dedicated to educating parents and pediatric professionals about the early warning signs of autism and other developmental disorders.

• Four months: Follows and reacts to bright colors, movement, and objects. Turns toward sounds. Shows interest in watching faces. Returns smiles.
  
  
• Seven to eight months: Sits unsupported. Imitates sounds. Crawls. Claps, points, waves. Bangs two objects together. Understands "no" from your tone of voice.
  
  
• 12 months: Uses a few gestures to get needs met and likes using hands to communicate, share, or point. Will turn to a person speaking or when his name is called. Plays peek-a-boo or other social games. Makes rudimentary mono-syllabic sounds such as "ma," "ba," "da," and "ga."
  
  
• 15 months: Exchanges smiles, vocalizations, and gestures with you. Uses pointing and other motions to draw attention to something, uses voice to get needs met or garner attention. May be able to speak and understand three or four words, such as "momma," "poppa," "bottle," or "bye-bye."
  
  
• 18 months: Uses lots of gestures as well as words to get needs met, like pointing or taking you by the hand and directing you to something. Uses at least four different consonants in babbling or words, shows that he knows the names of familiar people or body parts by pointing to or looking at them when named, and plays simple pretend games (like feeding a doll).
  
  
• 24 months: Engages in complex pretend play (such as feeding a doll then putting it to sleep). Uses and understands at least 50 words and can string words together. Enjoys being with children of the same age and is interested in playing with them and/or sharing toys. Looks for a familiar object out of sight when asked about its whereabouts.
  
  
• 36 months: Enjoys pretend play with different characters and with a story line, enjoys playing with other children, uses thoughts/actions together with speech to communicate and play. Will answer simple "who," "what," and "where" questions easily and talks about things in the past and the future.