{"id":391956,"date":"2026-01-04T23:06:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-04T23:06:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/391956\/"},"modified":"2026-01-04T23:06:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-04T23:06:10","slug":"what-is-developmental-delay-and-how-can-you-to-tell-if-your-child-has-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/391956\/","title":{"rendered":"What is developmental delay and how can you to tell if your child has one?"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the biggest changes to disability support in a generation is the new Thriving Kids program.<\/p>\n

The scheme<\/a>, which is expected to start rolling out in mid-2026, is pitched as an alternative to the NDIS for kids with what the government calls “mild to moderate” autism or developmental delay.<\/p>\n

But what is a developmental delay, how can you tell if your child has one, and what can you do about it?<\/p>\n

What is developmental delay?<\/p>\n

Developmental delay is an umbrella term for when a child doesn’t hit milestones at expected age levels.<\/p>\n

It refers to a lag in play and social skills, motor skills, problem-solving skills, self-regulation skills, and communication skills, according to Gehan Roberts, a paediatrician at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Gehan Roberts says when children don’t reach milestones at the expected age levels this is referred to as a developmental delay. (Supplied: The Royal Children\u2019s Hospital)<\/p>\n

He says communication is the most common area where delays tend to occur.<\/p>\n

“We expect children to have a few single words by their first birthday, or to be combining words into short two-word phrases by their second birthday,” Dr Roberts says.<\/p>\n

“And when children don’t achieve those \u2026 then the term ‘developmental delay’ is used as a way of flagging that child as somebody who needs some more enhanced monitoring, and potentially, intervention.”What are the signs?<\/p>\n

Melbourne mum Lusia Ford has three sons, including two who are autistic and have developmental disorders.<\/p>\n

Her youngest, Fletcher, now 11, was diagnosed with dysgraphia after Ms Ford noticed he was finding it difficult to write his name legibly.<\/p>\n

“It was really evident during COVID because he was homeschooling and I was really noticing that he was struggling to write,” Ms Ford says.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Luisa Ford’s youngest son Fletcher struggled with his writing. (ABC News: Patrick Stone)<\/p>\n

That came after her middle child’s diagnosis of dyspraxia (also known as developmental coordination disorder), a neurological condition affecting motor coordination.<\/p>\n

“We were noticing that he was falling over a lot \u2026 and wasn’t getting his hands down in time to protect his head or his face,” Ms Ford says.<\/p>\n

What should you do if you notice a potential delay?<\/p>\n

Dr Roberts says a good place to start is the primary care system.<\/p>\n

“Maternal and child health nurses, GPs, both of these workforces are able to respond to parents’ concerns \u2026 to try and pin down what areas of the child’s development need to be monitored more closely,” he says.<\/p>\n

He says the decision from there could range from “watch and wait”, to referring the child to specialists for targeted interventions, or upskilling parents.<\/p>\n

The latter has been big for Ms Ford and her family.<\/p>\n

Do you have a story to share?\u00a0Email\u00a0Specialist.Team@abc.net.au<\/a><\/p>\n

While paediatricians, occupational therapists, speech therapists and other specialists have helped her boys see improvements, they’ve also been crucial in supporting her.<\/p>\n

“Our therapists have really [helped me] understand what I can do when they’re not in therapy sessions, what I can do for the other seven days we are at home to really cement some of those new ways of doing things.”How will developmental delay fit into Thriving Kids?<\/p>\n

At the moment, therapies can be accessed through state government-funded community health centres or through private therapists, which many parents pay for using NDIS funds.<\/p>\n

However, the government says lumping the families of kids with developmental delays with large NDIS packages and being left to work out how to spend it doesn’t always lead to the best outcomes.<\/p>\n

Minister Mark Butler has also said some children with development delays have been “overserviced” by the scheme<\/a>.<\/p>\n

With Thriving Kids, the government wants to scale up the ability of existing community services \u2014 such as state-run child health services, GPs, and educational settings \u2014 to support families.<\/p>\n

The government is also looking at creating a new Medicare item for bulk-billed three-year-old health checks to pick up any developmental concerns.<\/p>\n

What could Thriving Kids look like?<\/a><\/p>\n

Despite the government wanting its Thriving Kids program for children with “mild to moderate” developmental delay and autism to start next year, the system is yet to be designed.<\/p>\n

But exactly how things will shape up once Thriving Kids begins is unclear \u2014 something causing concern in the disability sector and among families.<\/p>\n

While there’s lots of water left to go under the bridge for Thriving Kids, Dr Roberts says good, evidence-based information sources will continue to be available.<\/p>\n

“We have to remind ourselves that there was a landscape before NDIS and it was around a lot of systems that are still active,” he says.<\/p>\n

“But the current concern is that the NDIS is seen by many people as \u2026 the only lifeboat in the ocean \u2026 so we’re very hopeful that Thriving Kids will change some of the options available for families.”<\/p>\n

Can every developmental delay be ‘fixed’?<\/p>\n

Dr Roberts says the majority of kids with early developmental delays improve with intervention.<\/p>\n

“Fifteen to 20 per cent of kids will experience some form of developmental delay [and] we go into this space with the expectation that if we identify the things that need to be changed and provide the necessary inputs, the child will make progress,” he says.<\/p>\n

“But for those who don’t improve as expected \u2026 thinking about whether they could have an underlying neurodevelopmental disorder, for example, autism spectrum disorder or intellectual disability, is important.”<\/p>\n

The government says kids with “significant and permanent disability” will continue to have access to the NDIS.<\/p>\n

What else should you know?<\/p>\n

Ms Ford says there are several things she wishes she knew when starting out on her family’s journey.<\/p>\n

“Progress looks different for every child. There’s probably a lot of mums out there like I was picking up a lot of parenting books, reading websites and listening to podcasts and thinking it was linear. It’s not and it’s going to be a different journey for every kid and that’s okay,” she says.<\/p>\n

“And milestones are just markers, they’re not measures of value.”\"A<\/p>\n

Luisa Ford says both her sons have seen improvements since their diagnoses. (ABC News: Patrick Stone)<\/p>\n

Dr Roberts says if you feel something isn’t right or you don’t get the answers you want, trust your gut and seek more information from evidence-based sources.<\/p>\n

“Parents are the experts in their own children,” he says.<\/p>\n

“It’s not about all the hours of therapy or taking the child to all of these different kind of clinicians. It’s about parents understanding their child, what are their strengths, what are the areas that need to be developed further and how do we really reinforce the parent or the carer’s role in providing that input in everyday interaction.”<\/p>\n

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