Understand to prevent : Taking the right steps towards prevention

Child development is the process whereby a baby develops to become an independent functioning adult. According to Dr. Hussain Imam Muhammad Ismail development is about acquiring skills of increasing complexity leading to independence.

"Child development can be divided into four main areas : fine motor, gross motor,speech and languaage, and personal and social skills," says Dr. Hussain, the Head of paediatric department, Hospital Kuala Lumpur. "These four functional areas make a person a wholesome individual."

He define the four areas as thus:

• Gross motor : A process by which a baby acquires independent mobility. It is like the hatching behaviour of chicks, innately programmed, rather than learned.
• Fine motor : This has to do with the ability to use hands to manipulate objects, which requires visual-spatial skills.
• Speech and language : Resolves around the need to communicate, acquire new ideas and exchange them and mature intellectually. It makes human beings go forward.
• Personal and social skills : Require you to learn to interact with other people and yourself

Range of abnormality

Dr Hussain says that it's important for parents to know that there is a range of abnormality. For instance, some parents may think their child is slow, but this child could actually be functioning within the normal range of development.

"One should not hurry to label a developmental delay because it is usually determined over a few examinations, unless it is an obvious case of global delay as with Down syndrome," he says, adding that parents should follow the levels of progression and that any expectations should not exceed the normal pace.

"Children will only walk when they are ready to walk. Putting them in walkers at six months of agee does not make them walk any earlier and may result in serious domestic accidents,"Dr. Hussain emphasises.

Developmental problems are not uncommon, as 10% of children are affected by them. However, the vast majority of children are only middly affected. Children with mild developmental problems do get better and have a high chance of becoming independent adults with proper intervention, help and added attention. However, about 10 to 15% of children with developmental delay are severely affected with imparements that will limits their independence as adults.

Developmental warning signs

1. Gross motor : not rolling over by 6 months, not sitting by 8 months, not crawling by 10 months, not walking by 18 months
2. Fine motor : not fixing on objects by 2 months, not reaching for objects by 6 months, not transferring by 8 months, no pincer grasp by 16 months, not scribbling by 2 years, not drawing a circle by 3 years
3. Speech and language : Not cooing by 6 months, not pointing (using gestures) by 1 year, no single words by 18 months, no meaningful phrases by 2 years, not understood by family at 3 and by strangers at 4 years, does not understand what is said to him at 3 years
4. Personal and social skills : not smiling by 10 weeks, no sranger anxiety by 8 months, not spoon-feeding self at 18 months, unabale to dress self (except buttoning) at 3 years

Source : Positive parenting magazine, vol 3 2008, www.mypositiveparenting.org