Early Help, Lifelong Impact.

According to the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities & Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, USA, developmental disabilities are a group of conditions due to an impairment in physical, learning, language, or behaviour areas. These include but not limited to: Hearing Loss, Visual Impairment, Cerebral Palsy, Kernicterus, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Intellectual Disability, and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. These conditions may begin prior to, at birth, or shortly thereafter and usually last throughout a person’ s lifetime. Children who experience delay in reaching expected developmental milestones as they grow are often distinguished as having developmental delays rather than disabilities, which is permanent. A developmental delay may improve with intervention and can disappear altogether once the child catches-up in his or her development. It is possible for a developmental delay to develop into a developmental disability if left untreated. Further reading: