Babies and children usually learn important skills such as sitting up, rolling over, crawling, walking, babbling (making basic speech sounds), talking and becoming toilet trained as they grow up. These skills are known as developmental milestones and happen in a predictable order and usually at a fairly predictable age. While all children reach these stages at different times, a child with developmental delay may not reach one or more of these milestones until much later than expected.
A child may be described as having global developmental delay (GDD) if they have not reached two or more milestones in all areas of development (called developmental domains). These areas are:
- Motor skills - either gross motor skills like sitting up or rolling over and fine motor skills, for example picking up small objects
- Speech and language - which also includes babbling, imitating speech and identifying sounds, as well as understanding what other people are trying to communicate to them
- Cognitive skills - the ability to learn new things, process information, organize their thoughts and remember things
- Social and emotional skills - interacting with others and development of personal traits and feelings, as well as starting to understanding and respond to the needs and feelings of others
