Developmental Delay

By Toni Hager, NDS   ©2002

Developmental delay comes in various degrees of severity and is a common cause of parental worry.  If a child has a visible disability such as CP, Moebius Syndrome or Down Syndrome the parent is quickly guided into early intervention programs.  However, on the other side, if the disability is hidden like the effects of prenatal exposure to alcohol or drugs, or maybe the child experienced undetected ear infections or hasn’t learn to use their vision (not sight) efficiently the child will struggle and far too often parents are told, "He will out grow it", "He is just a little immature", "He'll catch up” or “.Just give him a lot of love".  Parents know in their hearts that “something” isn’t right and the child’s development isn’t going well… that the problem is real.

Developmental delay can have many causes but one of the most common is a slowly developing nervous system.  It is important to realize that if the delay of the nervous system occurs early in life it usually impedes the rate of development. This means the gap between such a child and his or her chronological peers will widen with age. For this reason, parents need to act early to provide appropriate programs for their child that can help minimize this gap.

Older children with developmental delay usually have additional problems.  They are often the “product” of a system that is quick to give up. They are exposed to limits placed on them that then become the reality even though there was no bases for these limits other than the fact that no one knew what to do.  Expectations and dreams are lowered by family and/or schools; emotionally they can become stagnant, unmotivated, or suffer from a poor quality of life below their potential.

The important thing to remember is that developmentally delayed individuals can be helped.  Their situation is not hopeless and parents can become empowered and enabled to offer effective productive help that can contribute significantly to the quality of life of the delayed child.  This means not only the quality of the child's life; but, the quality of life for all the family members as well.  CAN LEARN has experience working with developmentally delayed children and their families since 1998.  It is our belief that through organized stimulation programs, you can,

1. Speed up the maturing process of a developing nervous system,

2. Influence the direction of that development so that it occurs in more correct ways and

3. Retrain the incorrect areas of function so that the child can demonstrate their real potential.

Families who utilize our programs and services often see changes within the first few weeks that go far beyond their expected rates of improvement.

Children on our program generally become more alert, social, and physically more capable. They even improve in general health, sleep, learning and behavior so that others notice change within the first few months of program.

How does it work?

Our programs work on the “root” cause of the problem, not the symptoms.  The human brain is responsible for virtually every thing we do.  Every movement we make, every word we say, every thought, reaction, response and expression.  The list of functions of the brain is infinite.  However, we can place all those millions of functions into three categories.  Our brain must receive information from its environment, process it (filter, prioritize, interpret and categorize) and do something with the information.  The brain develops in an orderly, sequential manner; one level building upon the next.  If the foundation is shaky or dysorganized so will the upper levels. The only way our brain receives information is through our 6 senses (eyes, ears, nose, mouth, touch and balance).  Here is where problems begin.  If information isn’t received properly by one (or more) senses the brain is unable to process it properly which affects how well it is able to use or store information.  Function is a mirror….

If the brain received information well it will process well and store (learn and recall) information in highly skilled, organized and consistent ways.  It puts out information such as walking, talking, writing or riding a bike by a complex series of commands that must occur at the right time and in the right order.  Brain injured individuals aren’t receiving proper information therefore unable to process or store the information well.

CAN LEARN provides programs of exercises and activities that are designed to help the brain perform better in these three areas.  Sensory systems are stimulated and trained to work in better and healthier way.  The consistency of our stimulation program’s help the brain process in a more organized and consistent ways.  As the brain’s dysorganization is eliminated performance is increased and enhanced by building onto existing skills in a developmental way and by strengthening fundamental skills. By increasing the efficiency of the brain's functional ability there is less need for the brain to demonstrate symptoms. Therefore, virtually all symptoms of brain injury can be helped.

How can I get started?