Impact of significant delays in development on the learning needs of children

Solution Preview

Significant delays on development? Well, I think you can see that depending on the age of the child, there are different developmental checklists. However, if significant delays are found early on, you would think that would impact the later development of the child, unless some type of therapy is found early to help them catch up. For example, does a six month old reach for toys? Transfer objects from one had to another? Given the fact that children do not always follow development to the exact ages prescribed, it is still a concern because then by twelve months, there are other developments that build on the aforementioned skills. For example, does a 12-month old pick up a dropped object? This would follow from transferring from one hand to another. Woops, that was appendix A but that's all right for background information.

Different assessment instruments would be used depending on the age of the child. The Apgar Scale, I'm sure you're aware, is given at birth to assess muscle tone, respiration, heart rate (p. 278). However the Bayley Scale of Infant Development is given when the child is just slightly older. It measures mental scales and motor development from one month to three years, six months.

Have you heard of the study Do Early Intervention Programs Improve Cognitive and Motor Outcomes for preterm infants after Discharge (Orton, Spittle, Doyle, Anderson, & Boyd, 2009)? The rates of preterm infants living have improved over the past decade or more. However, the neurobiological impaitments that crop up in middle childhood remain constants (Orton, Spittle, Doyle, Anderson & Boyd, 2009). Developmental coordination disorder as well as attention and hyperactivity are common among children who were born pre-term (Orton, Spittle, Doyle, Anderson & Boyd, 2009). Early intervention has been used as a means to improve the overall outcomes among these children (Orton, Spittle, Doyle, Anderson & Boyd, 2009). Different aspects of early development including motor, cognitive, behavioral and mother-child interactions have been addressed depending on the outcomes sought.

References:
Class Text.

Orton, J., Spittle, A., Doyle, L., Anderson, P., & Boyd, R. (2009), Do Early Intervention Programs Improve Cognitive and Motor Outcomes for
preterm infants after discharge, Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology, 51 (11).

-

To understand what happens in the event of developmental delays, parents and professionals must have an understanding of normal development in a child. As soon as a child is born, and grows particularly, parents, doctors, and later teachers look at developmental milestones. These are sets of skills or age-specific tasks most children reach at an age range (Boyze, 2012).. Of course, there are variations within what professionals consider normal development (Boyze, 2012). For example, at one month old, the child brings hands within proximity of the hands and mouth (Boyze, 2012). At seven months old, the infant sits with and then without, support of her hands (Boyze, 2012). Often development in one area, sets in motions development in another. For instance, by 12 months old, the baby can get to a sitting position without any help at all (Boyze, 2012).

To be brief, the areas of child development falls within four categories. They are social/emotional, physical, cognitive, and motor (Boyze, 2012). Social and emotional refers to interacting with others, forming relationships with family, friends, doctor, and eventually teachers, assisting others including responding to others' feelings (Boyze, 2012). Cognitive refers to problem-solving and thinking skills (Boyze, 2012). Physical means both moving from one place to another, and measurable growth meaning length plus weight (Boyze, 2012). Motor development means using hands to eat, draw, dress, play, writing, running, jumping and hopping to name a few (Boyze, 2012).

Developmental delays refers to when a child does not develop the skills within ...