There are many different types of developmental delays in infants and young children. They include problems with:

• language or speech vision 
• movement ― motor skills
• social and emotional skills
• thinking ― cognitive skills

Sometimes, a delay occurs in many or all of these areas. When that happens, it is called "global delay." Global delay may occur for any of the following reasons:

• a genetic defect, such as Down syndrome
• fetal alcohol syndrome, caused by a mother drinking alcohol during pregnancy
• fragile X syndrome, an inherited type of mental retardation
• severe medical problems developing soon after birth, often associated with prematurity  WebMD