global developemental delay

[purplepaws999]

hello does anyone have advise on GDD

Hi purplepaws999, GDD is a huge subject, and children with GDD have a huge range in abilities and needs. Could you give a bit of background, and then maybe we could help?

as i understand it, its more of a state of being rather than a diagnosis. like short haired, or blue eyed, or short/tall. diagnosis comes later usually when they've worked out why the child has GDD - but that said, they dont always find a good reason for the delay either, and you are left with just the 'delay' itself.

Hi
MY DAUGHTER HAS DEVELOPMENTAL DELAY AND JUST TURNED 7 A FEW DAYS AGO. I am happy to talk to you about it but each child's level of developmental delay is different. My daughter has been labeled as having developmental delay as they have yet to find a condition to explain her special needs. She has complex learning needs and all areas of her developmental are delay. E.g She says only a few words and her level of understanding is limited to a younger child and she did not learn to walk until she was 4 years old. But there are other levels of delay that are more minor than hers.

Agree with the others. It's more of a symptom than a diagnosis. It's also very misleading; by calling it a "delay" it gives the impression that the child will, inevitably, catch up with their peers, perhaps a couple of years behind. In truth, it means that they are behind at the moment, and the doctors have no idea when or whether they will catch up because they haven't yet identified the underlying disorder.

Sometimes you keep the GDD label even after you get another diagnosis - if the condition is very variable or rare enough that it needs some explanation. DD1 has a list of conditions, but GDD is still on all the official letters. She's operating at about 8m developmentally (at 5 and a bit) and has barely improved in measurable terms since 14m old so it's not so much a "delay" as a "full stop" in our case. But as Heii says it's very varied and I wouldn't take DD1's progress as a predictor of anything at all, let alone another child with an entirely different condition.

Don't know if that helps at all.