Photo by Will Francis on Unsplash

When I worked as an EA and in my undergraduate practicum with a school-based behaviour worker, I often encountered diagnoses for something called “Global Developmental Delay” (GDD). While I understand generally what GDD is, I wanted to hone in on the finer details, given how prevalent it seems to be in the Inclusive/Special Education worlds. So, this week, I have done some research to prevent a bit of an overview of the condition.

What is GDD?

GDD is a diagnosis that occurs when a child (under the age of five) shows significant delays across multiple areas of development. According to the Canadian Paediatric Society, a GDD diagnosis requires delays in at least two of the following domains: Gross/fine motor skills, speech/language, social/personal, cognition, activities of daily living.

Children with GDD may demonstrate some or all for the following challenges:

  • Late in learning how to sit up, sitting up, crawl, and/or walk
  • Limited reasoning and conceptual abilities
  • Motor challenges (fine or gross)
  • Poor social skills, frequent ggression, and/or poor communication skills

For the purposes of assessment, “significant delays” refers to being at least two standard deviations below the mean.

What causes GDD?

There is not one definitive cause of GDD, however, some of the most common causes of GDD include:

  • Genetics
  • Prenatal conditions, such as using teratogens during pregnancy
  • Complications during birth, such as being born early
  • Child abuse or neglect
  • Abnormalities in development of the brain and/or spinal cord

Can GDD be treated?

Whether GDD can be treated or not is an interesting question, since it is not necessarily a “condition” but rather an indication that certain developmental benchmarks are not being met. As such, there is no sort of medication or biomedical intervention that would be effective in treating GDD. However, to support a child with GDD, a team-based approach would be crucial. Some professionals that would be involved would be:

  • Speech-Language Pathologists to support speech development
  • Occupational Therapists to support motor skill development
  • Behaviour Interventionists to support social development such as refraining from aggressive behaviours

Ultimately, the most important part of supporting a child with GDD is to start early. The earlier the intervention, the better!

ASD and GDD

It is a common misconception that children with GDD also have autism spectrum disorder (ASD), or that these are the same diagnoses. This is not the case. While it is frequently the case that a child will have GDD and ASD concurrently, they are not the same and can be diagnosed separate from one another. Additionally, children with GDD generally have fewer learning and social challenges than children with ASD.

I would love to hear if any of my readers have ever met or supported a child with GDD, and what their experience was like! Have a great week everyone!

Markus