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Child Development & Early Education vocabulary · Special Needs and Inclusion

Developmental delay

Meaning in child development & early education, with examples

nounCore term

In child development & early education, developmental delay means: A situation in which a child has not yet gained skills, such as walking or talking, within the age range in which most children do.

In Turkish: gelişimsel gecikme, gelişim geriliği

How it is used

Used by health and education professionals. A delay can affect one area (speech delay, motor delay) or several (global developmental delay). The term describes what is observed; the cause and any diagnosis are decided by specialists.

Example sentences

  1. The doctor referred him for an assessment because of a possible developmental delay.

  2. Early support can make a real difference for children with developmental delays.

Common collocations

  • global developmental delay
  • speech delay
  • show signs of delay
  • mild developmental delay
  • milestoneA skill that most children learn within a typical age range, such as smiling, sitting without support, walking or saying first words, used to follow a child's progress.
  • early interventionSupport given as early as possible, often in the first years of life, to children who have or may develop delays, disabilities or other difficulties.
  • developmental screeningA short, standard check of a child's development, often with a questionnaire or checklist, to see whether a fuller assessment may be needed.
  • special educational needsLearning difficulties or disabilities that make it harder for a child to learn than most children of the same age, so that extra or different support is needed.

More terms: Special Needs and Inclusion

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