Welcome

My son Riley has global developmental delay (GDD).

What is GDD? Wikipedia describes global developmental delay as "a generalized disorder appearing before adulthood, characterized by significantly impaired cognitive functioning and deficits in two or more adaptive behaviours." GDD is quite often also referred to as "developmental disability" or, my personal favourite, *sarcasm* "mental retardation". 

There are many causes for GDD, including: genetic conditions, problems during pregnancy, fetal alcohol syndrome, exposure to certain diseases or toxins, malnutrition, and complications at birth, ie: lack of oxygen. The signs and symptoms most often always include: delays is speech/language development, difficulty learning socialization and social rules, difficulty with problem solving, delays in the development of self help or self care skills, developmental delays in fine and/or gross motor skills, and lack of social inhibitors.

Children with GDD usually learn slower than a "normal" child, and this is often obvious from birth, as parents may find that their child learns to sit up, to crawl, to walk, or to talk later than other children. GDD cchildren may take longer to learn language, develop social skills, and take care of their personal needs, such as dressing or eating. Learning will take them longer, require more repetition, and skills may need to be adapted to their learning level. However, GDD children are NOT stupid, and they are all able to learn and develop, and live full, happy lives.

So, with all the medical jargon out of the way, I will now tell you what I think about GDD. I think that GDD is a bitch. It's most often a term used to diagnose a child when medical professionals don't know what else to call it. It's not autism. It's not Down Syndrome. It's basically a big unknown in our lives, as we have yet to find a reason for Riley's GDD. It certainly isn't something that I asked for, but it came with my son, and has been our lives for the past 4 years. My intention is not to gain people's pity, as this is not about me, but rather it is about bringing awareness to others and educating society about global developmental delay.

Before we go any further, I feel that there should be a "reader advisory" warning.
*I will be sharing my thoughts, opinions, and feelings as honestly as I can in this blog.
*There will be swearing. Probably lots of it.
*There will be spelling mistakes and grammatical errors.
*There will probably be things said that may offend some readers.
If you still think that you can handle it, then let me welcome you to the Life of Riley :o)








Please visit www.facebook.com/believeinbella to read about another family with a GDD child.