9 Atypical Development: Red Flags of Development Delays and Challenges

Atypical Development: Red Flags of Development Delays and Challenges

When children’s development falls outside of normal age ranges and milestones, their development is referred to as “atypical” or delayed. Children develop at their own pace and may excel in one area over another. For example, a child who is physically adept may walk early but may be slower to talk. A different child may be less advanced in motors skills, but learns to speak and communicate at an early age.

As with typically developing children, the reasons children have delays and challenges can be because of one or a combination of biological, environmental, and/or psychological factors. Developmental delays and challenges encompass a variety of deficits in children’s abilities in one or more domains (discussed on Page 9) . These delays and challenges may prevent children’s full and complete integration into their social, emotional, and physical worlds. They may cause children to do poorly in school, have violent behavior, be unable to communicate, lack social skills, among many other issues.

Children with special needs and developmental delays and challenges may have a variety of biological challenges that interfere with their abilities to function and send signals and responses to their parent/caregiver. This affects their temperaments and the overall development of the relationships with their parent/caregivers. If these challenges are not recognized and addressed, the parent/caregivers may be frustrated at the children’s difficulties, affecting their parenting abilities.

These challenges are a part of children’s individual differences. There are often one, two, or three different types of challenges:

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