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developmental delay vs. LD
Can anyone clear up what the difference is between a developmental delay and learning disability?
The Implications of Culture on Developmental Delay
ERIC EC Digest #E589
Author: Rebeca Valdivia
December 1999
––––––––––––––––––––––––––—
Developmental delay refers to a lag in development rather than to a specific condition causing that lag. It represents a slower rate of development, in which a child exhibits a functional level below the norm for his or her age. A child may have an across-the-board developmental delay or a delay in specific areas. When a child’s development appears to lag, many service providers prefer to apply the less specific term “developmental delay,” rather than a more specific disability diagnosis, since symptoms of specific disabilities may be unclear in young children. It is possible that a child with a developmental
delay who receives services will not develop a disability; whereas if the same child did not receive services, the delay would become a disability. Because it is based on a comparison of the child’s functional level with that of other children of the same age, “developmental delay” can be seen
as a statistically defined, socially mediated construct that depends on cultural expectations and the definition of what constitutes a delay.
––––––––––––––––––––––––––-
So a developmental delay could later get called a learning disability.
From site at http://ericec.org/digests/e589.html
The Implications of Culture on Developmental Delay
ERIC EC Digest #E589
Author: Rebeca Valdivia
December 1999
––––––––––––––––––––––––––—
Developmental delay refers to a lag in development rather than to a specific condition causing that lag. It represents a slower rate of development, in which a child exhibits a functional level below the norm for his or her age. A child may have an across-the-board developmental delay or a delay in specific areas. When a child’s development appears to lag, many service providers prefer to apply the less specific term “developmental delay,” rather than a more specific disability diagnosis, since symptoms of specific disabilities may be unclear in young children. It is possible that a child with a developmental
delay who receives services will not develop a disability; whereas if the same child did not receive services, the delay would become a disability. Because it is based on a comparison of the child’s functional level with that of other children of the same age, “developmental delay” can be seen
as a statistically defined, socially mediated construct that depends on cultural expectations and the definition of what constitutes a delay.
––––––––––––––––––––––––––-
So a developmental delay could later get called a learning disability.
Helen