DEVELOPMENTAL DELAYS Introduction Development

Statistics demonstrate a lack of clear-cut distinction between developmentally delayed or disabled and learning disabled populations. Developmental delays or developmental disabilities involve the functions of the central nervous system. The spectrum of these disabilities includes cerebral palsy, mental retardation, epilepsy, language disorders, and infantile autism. A 1984 survey of 41 university centers for developmentally disabled identified the following groups: mental retardation (28 percent), specific learning disability (16 percent), general underachievement (12 percent), behavior disorders (8 percent), speech impaired (7 percent), severely emotionally disturbed (6 percent), orthopedically impaired (4 percent), sensory impaired (3 percent), autistic (2 percent), and other (14 percent) (Westman, 1990).

The term learning disability becomes vague and controversial when applied to the individual child. Most learning disabilities are relative rather than absolute; individual differences in functions of the brain rather than pathological conditions need to be considered. The term learning disability became popular in 1963 with the organization of the Association for Chil

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f knowledge and the syntactic ability to organize words into sentences. Development of intentional communicative language is linked to the establishment of the temporo-occipito-parietal associational area and its connections with the thalamus. Outer sections of the temporo-occipito-parietal area begin to function between five and twelve years of age. The child's innate capacities such as recognition of the mother's voice and predispositions to syntax and grammar, contribute to the building of language. Speech is the means of expression of one's internal world; words organize and symbolize sensations. The parent participates in an exchange that helps the child's development. Babbling is found to begin about the same age in both deaf and hearing children, but progression to speech is shown to depend on hearing and social interactions (Westman, 1990). Year one for the child brings intentionally communicative language, such as responding differently to angry or friendly talking, and repeating simple words spoken by a parent. The second year brings the increase of vocabulary. During subsequent years, verbalization increases and during adolescence, speech becomes an effective means for communicating ideas to others. Language
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