Developmental Delays
in Baton Rouge, LA
Watching your child learn and grow is a rewarding experience; but what should you do if they seem to struggle more than other children their age? Sometimes children can experience a delay in reaching their developmental milestones. This can lead to challenges in many areas of life, including making friends, taking care of themselves, and participating in school. Keep reading to learn more about developmental milestones, signs of developmental delays, and how our caring team at Dynamic Therapy Specialists can help your child achieve their fullest potential.
What Are Developmental Milestones?
Developmental milestones are the basic skills that children gain as they grow. These milestones are used as a guideline to show how well a child is developing and identify any areas where they may need extra support. These milestones include many areas of development:
- Physical milestones like fine motor skills, such as grasping or writing, and gross motor skills, such as crawling and running
- Cognitive milestones like thinking, learning, and problem-solving skills
- Social and emotional milestones like making friends and self-regulation skills
- Communication milestones like using and understanding speech, language, and body language
What Is a Developmental Delay?
For children who struggle with sensory processing, there is essentially a miscommunication between the senses and the nervous system. Either they become hypersensitive, meaning that common sensations feel overwhelming, or they become hyposensitive, meaning that even extreme sensations are difficult for them to notice.
For example, if a hypersensitive child steps outside into cold weather, their nervous system may register the temperature as something painful. They can feel distress and want to go back inside because the feeling of cold is overwhelming. On the other hand, a hyposensitive child in the same situation may not register the cold at all—even if it’s below freezing outside.
Common Signs of Delayed Development in Children
- Seem to be less active or communicative than their peers
- Prefer to play alone or with children younger than they are
- Have a condition like autism or Down syndrome that impacts their development
- Struggle to make friends or socialize with others
- Are described as a “late bloomer,” “late talker,” or similar
- Were born prematurely
- Have trouble understanding other people’s instructions, questions, etc.
How We Address Developmental Delays
At Dynamic Therapy Specialists, we take a holistic approach to pediatric therapy. Rather than simply teaching children how to compensate for the skills they struggle with, we take a bottom-up approach by focusing on remediation first. By evaluating the foundational areas of your child’s development, we can identify and address the root causes of their challenges.
Think of it this way: you have to learn to walk before you can learn to run. It’s not that you can’t learn how to run, but if you never learned how to walk first, you’ll be missing the basics that you need to support learning how to run. By prioritizing skill remediation over compensation, we empower children to build a strong foundation for future growth and development.
Schedule an Evaluation Today
If your child is experiencing a developmental delay, our team at Dynamic Therapy Specialists will go above and beyond to help. Call us at (225) 767-5032 to schedule an evaluation, and let’s work together to improve your child’s quality of life.