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Signs & concerns
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Signs & concerns
When should I worry that my 5-year-old might have hypotonia?
By five, most children have steady core strength for play, sitting upright and using a pencil. Consider a check for hypotonia if your child consistently looks floppy, slumps, tires far faster than peers, avoids physical play, or struggles with stamina and fine-motor tasks. Low tone is not laziness and responds well to early support — a persistent pattern across settings, or any loss of skills, deserves prompt clinician review.
Read the answer AnswerWhen should I worry my 5-year-old has Intellectual Disability?
Worry at five is reasonable, but worry is not a diagnosis. A broad, persistent lag across thinking, language, learning and everyday self-care — not one slow area — is the real reason to check. Only a Pinnacle clinician can confirm it, and early support helps most.
Read the answer AnswerWhen should I worry about motor planning difficulties in my 5-year-old?
At five, occasional clumsiness is normal. Worry is warranted when a child consistently struggles to learn new physical skills, lags in self-care like dressing and cutlery, gets multi-step movements out of order, or avoids coordination tasks — and this pattern holds across home and kindergarten over several weeks. That's a cue for a structured developmental check, not panic. Only a Pinnacle clinician can assess what's underneath.
Read the answer AnswerWhen to worry about a non-verbal 5-year-old
By five, most children speak in full sentences understood by strangers. A child using very few words or none — or relying mainly on gesture and sounds — should be assessed now, not waited on. Minimally verbal describes spoken output, not intelligence, and early communication support gives the biggest advantage. Only a Pinnacle clinician can assess what's underneath.
Read the answer AnswerWhen to worry your 5-year-old might have Oppositional Defiant Disorder
At five, frequent defiance, tempers and boundary-testing are largely normal as children learn independence. Worry — meaning, seek a review — only when angry, argumentative or defiant behaviour is frequent (most days for around six months), clearly stronger than in same-age peers, and is genuinely harming home, friendships or school. Even then it signals a need for assessment and early support, not a diagnosis.
Read the answer AnswerWhen to Worry About Toe-Walking in a 5-Year-Old
Occasional tip-toeing is common, but by age five most children walk heel-to-toe. Worth a check if your child toe-walks most of the time, has tight calves or heel cords, can't stand flat-footed, toe-walks on one side only, or shows delays in speech, play or coordination. Persistent toe-walking is often harmless and idiopathic, but a clinician should rule out tight tendons or neuromuscular causes.
Read the answer AnswerWhen should I worry about prematurity-related developmental risk in my 5-year-old?
By age 5, most prematurity-related developmental risk has either settled or become visible as school demands grow. Worry — and seek a review — if your child is clearly behind peers in language, attention, learning, movement or emotional regulation, especially as a persistent pattern. Many preterm children catch up fully; a check brings clarity, never a label.
Read the answer AnswerWhen should I worry about Rett Syndrome at age 5?
Rett Syndrome usually shows itself between 6 and 18 months, not at 5 — most often as a child slows or loses hand and speech skills she once had, with repetitive hand-wringing movements. A 5-year-old with steady, ongoing development does not fit this pattern. The key sign at any age is loss of previously gained skills, which always deserves prompt medical and neurological review — not a diagnosis, a reason to assess early.
Read the answer AnswerWhen should I worry that my 5-year-old might have a school readiness gap?
A school readiness gap is not a diagnosis but a sign a child needs more support with the building blocks of learning before structured school. At five, seek a gentle check if your child consistently struggles to follow simple instructions, separate from you, attend to a short activity, or shows little interest in early learning — especially if the pattern persists across home and pre-school. Earlier support is always easier.
Read the answer AnswerWhen Should I Worry About Selective Mutism at 5?
At five, the time to seek a check for Selective Mutism is when your child speaks freely at home but consistently does not speak at school or in specific settings for at least a month, beyond the normal settling-in period, and this affects learning or friendships. The ability to speak is clearly there — this is anxiety-based, not shyness or a speech delay. It is a reason to assess early, not a diagnosis, because gentle early support works best.
Read the answer AnswerWhen should I worry about self-regulation difficulties at 5?
At five, occasional big feelings and meltdowns are normal as children learn to manage emotions. Worry — and seek a developmental check — when self-regulation difficulties are frequent, intense, slow to recover from, appear across home and school, and disrupt friendships, learning or daily routines over weeks to months. Only a clinician can assess what's underneath.
Read the answer AnswerWhen should I worry about feeding selectivity at five?
At five, choosy eating is often normal. It is worth a clinician's eye when selectivity is intense and persistent — a very small accepted-food list, strong texture or sensory distress, gagging at new foods, whole food groups refused, and impact on growth, nutrition or family life. These are reasons to assess early, not a diagnosis, because gentle support works best.
Read the answer AnswerWhen should I worry about Sensory Processing Differences in my 5-year-old?
At five, occasional sensory fussiness is normal. Worry when an intense pattern — strong over- or under-reaction to sounds, textures, foods or movement — regularly disrupts dressing, eating, play, sleep or school. That pattern is a reason to check, not a diagnosis; only a Pinnacle clinician can assess it.
Read the answer AnswerWhen should I worry that my 5-year-old might have Separation Anxiety Disorder?
Some separation worry is normal at five. Seek a review when distress is intense, lasts most days for about four weeks or more, and disrupts school, sleep, friendships or family life — for example school refusal, constant fear of harm to you, nightmares or physical complaints at parting. This is a reason to assess, not a diagnosis, and early support works well.
Read the answer AnswerWhen should I worry about social communication difficulties at 5?
By five, most children manage back-and-forth conversation, turn-taking and reading basic social cues. Worry is warranted when a child consistently struggles with the social use of language — across home and school, over several weeks — even though their words and intelligence are fine. This warrants a calm clinician check, not alarm, and only a clinician can confirm what's underneath.
Read the answer AnswerWhen should I worry about Stereotyped Movement Disorder at 5?
Many 5-year-olds make repetitive movements like rocking or hand-flapping, and alone these are often harmless. Seek a developmental check when movements are frequent, hard to interrupt, interfere with play, learning or friendships, or cause harm such as head-banging. These are reasons to assess, not a diagnosis — and early support works best.
Read the answer AnswerWhen to Worry About Tourette Syndrome in a 5-Year-Old
At five, brief tics like blinking, sniffing or throat-clearing are very common and usually fade within months — this is not Tourette Syndrome. Tourette is only considered when both movement and vocal tics have come and gone for more than a year, starting before age 18. The wise step now is to watch gently, keep a short diary, and seek a check if tics persist beyond a year, cause distress or disrupt daily life.
Read the answer AnswerWhen should I worry about visual impairment in my 5-year-old?
At 5, seek a vision check if your child consistently squints, sits very close to the screen or book, tilts their head, rubs the eyes a lot, has headaches or blurry vision, or bumps into things in dim light. These are reasons to assess early, not a diagnosis. Most childhood vision problems respond very well to early correction, so catching them now protects the school years ahead.
Read the answer AnswerWhen to Worry About Attachment Difficulties at 6–9 Months
Attachment Difficulties (ICD-11 6B44) cannot be diagnosed at 6–9 months — this pattern is recognised only later in early childhood. What matters now is observing the warm, two-way connection of this age: comfort-seeking, social smiling, eye contact and emerging stranger awareness. A baby who consistently cannot be comforted, shows little eye contact, or seems persistently flat deserves a gentle general developmental and hearing check — not a label. Only a Pinnacle clinician can assess.
Read the answer AnswerWhen to worry about Auditory Processing Difficulties at 6-9 months
At 6–9 months it's too early to identify Auditory Processing Difficulties — that label needs an older, testable child, usually after age 4–5. What matters now is basic hearing: does your baby startle to sound, turn towards voices and make early sounds? If not, a prompt hearing check, not a processing assessment, is the right step.
Read the answer AnswerWhen should I worry that my 6-to-9-month-old might have Autism Spectrum?
At 6-to-9 months, autism cannot be reliably identified — the patterns it is recognised by emerge later. This is the age for joyful interaction and routine developmental monitoring, not an autism checklist. Screening becomes meaningful around 16–18 months. Only a clinician can assess; worry is best channelled into watchful connection.
Read the answer AnswerWhen should I worry about cerebral palsy at 6–9 months?
Between 6 and 9 months, watch how your baby moves rather than one milestone: persistent stiffness or floppiness, strong one-sidedness, fisted hands, poor head control or no rolling are worth a gentle check. A pattern that persists is the real flag — and early assessment is hopeful, not frightening. Only a Pinnacle clinician can confirm anything.
Read the answer AnswerWhen should I worry about anxiety in my 6–9 month old?
At 6 to 9 months there is no clinically meaningful diagnosis of Childhood Anxiety and no signs list to fear. Stranger wariness and separation protest are healthy milestones that show secure attachment forming. Anxiety as a concern is considered only in older children, always via a clinician. If overall development worries you — soothing, smiling, babbling, eye contact — seek a general developmental check, where reassurance is the likely result.
Read the answer AnswerWhen to worry about CAS at 6–9 months
At 6 to 9 months it is not yet possible or meaningful to identify Childhood Apraxia of Speech, because word-making hasn't begun. This age is for watching pre-speech foundations — babbling, eye contact, turn-taking and responding to sound. CAS assessment becomes appropriate around 2–3 years, once a child attempts words. Any general hearing or communication concern deserves a routine developmental check; only a Pinnacle clinician can assess, never an online form.
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