Does Early Milestone Delay Cause Mental Health Issues In children?

Children are the treasure of the world. Childhood is a “magical time”. And the impact of this magical time lasts throughout their life. So, mind-body complex plays as important role in kids as it does in adults. The children who have sound mind are able to think clearly, develop socially and acquire new skills.

Behaviours are windows of the mind

Movement is the first language of the child. Even before they start talking, they start moving. Having missed the right kind of movement through a proper milestone speaks through their behaviour. The family, the school and the community in which the child lives has a lot of influence in the development of mental health.
The common complaints from parents and schools are learning problem which may be reading and writing, disruptive behavior, inattentiveness, rude behaviour, temper tantrums which are labeled as behavioral problems.
Children below 14 years cannot be labeled to have behavior problems. This is the result of missing link in motor milestone and sensory integration.
But we perceive their “skill deficit ”as “problem behaviour “.

The impact of physical activity on learning

One needs to understand milestone development before we analyze a child’s behavior. The motor milestones are neck control, rolling, creeping, crawling, kneeling, sitting, standing and walking. A child who skips any of these milestone will tend to have difficulty in their cognitive and functional abilities.

For example:
A) Crawling helps not only to develop the muscle but also the cognitive development.
It activates brain stem which promotes self-regulation. It helps in shoulder stability which is important motor and visual skill and also helps in sensory integration.

B) The child who has difficulty to maintain upright posture due to either milestone or circumstantial deprivation uses all its potential of the brain to be in the classroom seated. Due to this, attention is compromised.

C) The baby who was born prematurely might have difficulty in learning because the brain may have skipped mapping the body completely in the birth process.

Successful movement through milestone and effective sensory integration through exploration will support cognition.
A sound mind in a sound body.
Let the child explore the environment through their hands and feet. Every child should meet both physiological and emotional needs to have a healthy mind.

We at SPARRC provide holistic approach to address the child’s need.

D.Abhiramasundari
Special Educator
FAMES (SPARRC)