Delay in walking, sitting, speaking, and cognition…problems that some children may suffer from, hindering their mental development, and sometimes physical growth, the causes of which are related to the central nervous system, and may also be related to psychological reasons related to the environment in which they live.
Delayed physical and intellectual development of a child may be a natural and temporary issue, and it may also be linked to the presence of a specific health problem, which makes some parents wonder how to distinguish between a natural delay and that linked to a health problem that the child suffers from.
The reasons
Dr. Jalal Al-Wadghiri, a pediatric specialist, stated that delayed growth and cognition in some children is related to a condition that causes the child to appear younger than the rest of his peers, as this appears through speech, movement and cognition, in addition to many symptoms.
The same spokesman added, in his conversation with “SNRTnews,” that these differences may be natural and related to transient causes, such as the child’s surroundings and the environment in which he lives. The child may also show signs of delay, due to his suffering from health problems, related to the prenatal stage, genetic makeup, or Lack of oxygen during childbirth, as it may be related to genetic factors.
A child’s deficiency in the level of perception and interaction is linked to a number of reasons and factors, the most prominent of which is the environment and surroundings in which the child lives, where the lack of communication, and training the child from a young age to interact and move, leads to a delay in his awareness, as parents must be careful to communicate and interact with him from his early months.” First, isolating the child from his peers and avoiding registering him in nurseries contributes to his inability to keep up with other children in speech and movement,” explains Al-Wadghiri.
The pediatrician also indicated that the delay may be related to health factors due to disorders of some brain cells that have affected him since birth. In addition, the child’s size is less than normal weight, which may contribute to affecting his breathing, his physical functions, and sometimes his heart, and thus causing some delay in the child’s level of mental development. These injuries may be temporary, disappearing as the child gets older in addition to medical treatment.
Symptoms indicating delayed growth and cognition in children
In this regard, Jalal Al-Wadghiri revealed the symptoms that indicate that the child suffers from slow or delayed growth and cognition, including:
When it comes to ocean-related psychological causes:
– Lack of development of the child’s motor skills, especially those related to sitting, standing, walking, lying down and crawling.
– The child’s inability to interact and apply some skills that require concentration.
– Always relying on one of the parents to carry out some activities related to daily life, such as going to the bathroom, sleeping, watching TV, entering the kitchen, etc., despite his advanced age.
– The child’s inability to give up some habits related to the period when he was an infant.
– Delayed pronunciation, especially when it comes to simple words.
When it comes to brain cell disorders
Difficulty moving the head normally appears from – the child’s infancy.
– Inability to cry normally.
– Difficulty tracking hand movements or signals.
– Unstable outlook.
– Difficulty moving and crawling in the first months.
Diagnosis and treatment
Jalal Al-Wadghiri explained that in some cases, growth disorders are diagnosed from birth, when it comes to a pathological cause. As for other cases, this type of disorder is diagnosed as the child ages and grows, indicating that in all cases, the necessary examinations must be performed, by conducting some analyses, x-rays, and careful medical examination.
After the diagnosis is reached and the causes of the growth disorder become apparent, treatment begins by prescribing the appropriate medications according to the case, such as subjecting the child to hormonal treatment, which is carried out using a precise treatment regimen, as well as using medical taming sessions, to help the child develop his motor and mental abilities,” Al-Wadghiri explains.
He added: “If the tests do not show any diseases related to the brain or genes, the matter remains related to psychological or peripheral causes. In this case, we advise parents to increase communication with the child, give him more space to play with his peers, in addition to involving him in various activities.”
Care must be taken that the young child does not become accustomed to smart phones and electronic tablets, which contribute to his lethargy and affect his concentration, and replace them with manual toys that require movement and concentration.”
At the conclusion of his speech, Dr. Al-Wadghiri stressed the necessity of making periodic visits to the child’s doctor’s office to monitor his health condition and development.
