Babies and children learn and develop important skills known as ‘developmental milestones’. These milestones usually occur during the first five years of life and are fairly predictable. When a child is not reaching these milestones, their development may be termed as ‘delayed’. Child development refers to the process of development and the achievement of certain developmental milestones. Abnormal delays in development, preventing a child from reaching these milestones refers to developmental delay. These may affect a child’s motor, speech and language and social skills. A child that has delay in all these areas is said to have global developmental delay.

Child milestones develop in an ordered fashion over time. Children develop at different rates and have different strengths and weaknesses which means that a diagnosis of developmental delay is often difficult unless a child’s development is substantially below their expected level. There are many reasons that a child may not be reaching their milestones and these will need to be fully investigated. Developmental milestones are tasks most children learn or develop that commonly appear in certain age ranges. For example, head control, rolling, crawling, walking and talking. Below are some examples of milestones and their typical ages of achievement. Remember these are guidelines only and every child develops at different rates.

• Motor skills - reach, grasp and hold objects, support their head well, bring objects to their mouth and push down with their legs when their feet are placed on a firm surface
• Personal / social skills - smile at people and pay attention to new faces
• Communication skills - respond to loud noises, babble and imitate sounds

• Motor skills - reach with one hand, take objects to their mouth, roll over in either direction, sit up without help and weight bear through their legs when you pull them up to a standing position
• Personal / social skills - enjoy cuddles, show affection for parents, show enjoyment around people, be comforted at night, smile without prompting, laugh or squeal, and take interest in games of peek-a-boo
• Communication skills - respond to sounds

• Motor skills - crawl, drag one side of their body while crawling, and stand when supported
• Personal / social skills - show back-and-forth sharing of sounds, smiles, or facial expressions and show back-and-forth gestures, such as waving, reaching, or pointing
• Communication - use single words (like "mama")
• Thinking - Search for objects that are hidden while they watch, use gestures, such as waving and point to objects or pictures

• Motor skills - walk and specifically develop a heel-to-toe walking pattern or be able to push a wheeled toy
• Communication -speak at least 15 words, use two-word phrases, and use speech to communicate more than immediate needs
• Thinking - know the function of common objects, such as a hairbrush, telephone or spoon, follow simple instructions and imitate actions or words

HOW CAN THESE DIFFICULTIES IMPACT ON FUNCTION?

Developmental Delay can have an adverse effect on a child's ability to function both at home, in school, and socially. An occupational therapist would be able to analyse how developmental delay is impacting on these areas and provide you with treatment to help improve your child's ability across the home, school and social environments.

• Clumsy
• Bumping into things
• Slow morning routine
• Struggling to do things for themselves

• Behind in lessons
• Struggles in P.E
• Un-coordinated
• Poor handwriting

• Teased for poor ability
• Isolated/ without many friends

OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY TREATMENT AVAILABLE

An occupational therapist can assess and treat your child in relation to developmental delay. The occupational therapist will analyse how your child completes occupations and their ability to do so in comparison to what should be expected for a child of their age. Occupational therapists focus on tasks that involve fine motor skills, such as tying shoes and writing with a pencil or pen. Physical therapists offer exercises to improve strength, balance, and coordination in children with gross motor problems, which can affect activities such as walking up stairs, running, and jumping.

Our occupational therapists also help children with sensory processing disorders swap the soft, nontextured, or “white” foods of infancy for more highly textured, colorful, age-appropriate foods.

Benefits from occupational therapy include:

• Increased gross motor skills
• Increased fine motor skills
• Improved scores at school
• Increased independence
• Confidence improvement
• Able to compete against classmates

The occupational therapist would work together with you and your child to reach the goals that they want to achieve; this would include tailoring the therapy to meet your needs. Each of our therapists place your child at the centre of our practice and will adjust the treatment sessions to ensure they are happy with the improvements and activities they are doing at all times.

PHYSIOTHERAPY TREATMENT AVAILABLE

Physiotherapy treatment will improve motor developmental milestones such as rolling, sitting, crawling and walking and physical development such as balance, coordination and mobility. Physiotherapy will also promote correct positioning, and provide fun and stimulating exercises to gain postural stability and coordination. Physiotherapy will also aim to increase physical development by helping children achieve their milestones as soon as possible.

SPEECH THERAPY TREATMENT AVAILABLE

A speech-language pathologist teaches a child with language and speech delays or disorders how to improve communication. This may include helping the child learn to talk in sentences of increasing complexity and working on speech production. The pathologist also offers strategies for relearning language skills that may have been lost due to an accident or surgery.

The specialist counsels parents about age-appropriate speech and language milestones and how to help their children improve their ability to communicate. Our doctors can refer you to a network of speech-language pathologists.

OTHER SUPPORTIVE REHABILITATION TREATMENTS AVAILABLE

Social skills therapy is a research-based approach to teaching children as young as three how to behave in a social setting, control their behavior, and communicate more effectively. This type of therapy is usually provided in a group setting with a social worker or psychologist who is experienced in working with children who have a social or emotional delay, such as shyness or tantrums, attention difficulties, or autism spectrum disorder. Our therapists choose structured, age-appropriate activities that build and reinforce important social skills, such as coping with shyness; interpreting nonverbal cues; sharing; initiating and maintaining play; and following directions.

Our therapists also teach parents and caregivers how to support a child struggling with a social or emotional delay. They may offer strategies for helping your child counteract negative emotions and building his or her self-esteem. Our specialists also help your child learn how to recognize social cues to encourage social and emotional development.

Our therapists also offer cognitive behavioral therapy, in which children are given strategies for reducing worries or fears and improving social and behavioral skills. This helps reinforce improvements in children with social and emotional delays. The therapist can help your child focus on a specific challenge, such as a refusal to talk due to extreme shyness, anxiety about interacting with peers, or difficulty regulating behavior.

Parents are included in this treatment so you can apply the skills attained during therapy to your child’s home and social environment. Your child’s therapist can also suggest rewards to reinforce your child’s progress.

HOW TO ARRANGE TO SEE AN OCCUPATIONAL/SPEECH/PHYSIO THERAPIST

If you feel you or a family member would benefit from Occupational/Speech/Physio Therapy then click here to book your appointment or email uganda@inhomerehabilitationteams.com call us on +256 776 393818.