What Is GDD and Does Your Child Have It? Content Creator Cham Magsaysay Opens Up About Her Son's Diagnosis

Cham Magsaysay

Content creator Cham Magsaysay was a career woman. Her job in the entertainment industry may have been a dream for many, as it involved working with celebrities. From being a production assistant, Cham became an executive producer for TV and an artist handler. Everything was going well for her career. So, when she resigned from ABS-CBN, the company she had worked for for 18 years, people were surprised, wondering why she had to quit. 

It was a hard decision, but she doesn't regret her choice. As a mom, there was no question she would drop everything for her children. 

Cham is a mom of three; she and her husband Mike have a 7-year-old daughter, Keia, and fraternal twins, Aeric and Aerin, who will turn three next month. Motherhood is no easy feat, and it’s common for career women, who are mothers, to feel a sense of “mom guilt” whenever work takes up a bit more chunk in the pie chart of responsibilities. So, yes, admittedly, Cham wanted to be more hands-on as a mom and spend quality time with her kids. 

But what truly led her to shift gears, serving as a wake-up call, was her son Aeric’s Global Developmental Delay (GDD) diagnosis. 

When I saw Cham at one event, we briefly talked about her resignation, and she told me in passing that she decided to be a full-time mom because her child was diagnosed with GDD. We didn’t have enough time to discuss it in detail, but I made a mental note of what she said because I felt it was something I must know as a mom. Weeks later, I met up with a friend of mine, a mom of a two-year-old boy, and to my surprise, she told me her son was diagnosed with GDD. 

I felt compelled to know more about GDD, more so because I have a one-year-old niece, and I wanted to know more about this topic on layman's terms and from a firsthand experience. So, I reconnected with Cham, who, at the time, hadn’t yet opened up about her child’s diagnosis on social media, where she has established herself as a momfluencer.

Looking back on her pregnancy and the first year with her twins

Before Cham talked about what she noticed with Aeric that she found alarming, she took me back to her last days of pregnancy. She was almost due at the time of the 2022 Philippine presidential election. Knowing it may be risky, she sought permission from her OB-GYN to step out and vote. 

“Binigyan naman ako ng clearance ng doctor ko to vote. Kasi okay pa naman. Wala naman masyadong complication,” Cham shared. However, a couple of days after, she felt stressed and went to her OB-GYN for a checkup. “Doon na sinabi sa akin ng OB-GYN ko na medyo open na ’yung cervix ko. Tapos I needed to be on complete bed rest, or else, magiging premature sila. So, doon ako natakot. Umpisa pa lang, medyo complicated na ’yung pregnancy ko.” 

Thankfully, she got to deliver Aeric and Aerin at full term. “Pero, sa tummy ko pa lang, si baby boy na ’yung medyo hindi nakakahabol. Delayed siya. Sa timeline, mas nari-reach ni Aerin ’yung milestones,” Cham added. 

But when the twins were born, everything was normal. Aeric and Aerin were on the same level in milestones and progress. In fact, Cham said Aeric would already utter “dada” at six months. When he turned one, however, Cham started noticing a delay in his speech. When he was about one and a half years old, Aeric wouldn’t respond when his name was called. But they decided to wait it out, thinking he was developing just fine. Besides, some say boys develop more slowly than girls, after all. But Cham expressed, “I think, as a mom, you will feel if there’s something wrong.” 

Having her son checked and addressing the delay

At two years old, toddlers should be able to say short sentences or phrases or put words together. But when Aeric turned two and still couldn’t speak the way toddlers his age normally would be capable of, Cham and Mike felt it was time to turn to a developmental pediatrician (dev ped). 

“After nu’ng visit, nag-run ng test si dev ped and then du’n na sinabi na may GDD si Aeric,” Cham told Metro.Style. What is GDD? When a child is diagnosed with Global Developmental Delay, he or she is significantly delayed in at least two areas of development, such as gross motor, vision and fine motor, communication, and social skills. Basically, GDD is an umbrella term used to describe physical and mental delays. With Aeric, he has communication problems and poor social skills. 

The dev ped recommended ways to help Aeric cope. They went for occupational therapy, speech therapy, and play school to address the delay in his social skills. Thankfully, because of his regular therapies, his condition improved. “For a while, sobrang nagwo-work tapos nakakapagsalita na siya,” Cham told us, her excitement palpable.  

But then, because both Cham and Mike were busy with work, it came to a point when instead of Aeric having three therapy sessions for each of the abovementioned areas per week, they could only bring him to one of those a week. The inconsistency, Cham felt, led to regression. “Biglang nag-stop ’yung pag-Mama and Papa niya,” she shared. “When we had a check-up with one of the doctors, ang sabi sa’min, ‘If you want him to improve, dapat tutukan niyo siya. Kasi kung hindi niyo tututukan, hindi talaga mag-i-improve ang anak niyo.’ That really struck me.”

They decided it was best for her to quit her job to focus on their son’s therapies. They signed up for more therapies for him and are now sticking to a regular schedule for these sessions. “Alam mo, nakakapag-Mama and Papa na siya ulit. Alert na siya. ’Yung motor skills niya, sobrang nag-improve. Nagre-respond na siya sa name niya. ’Yung mga simple instructions, nasusundan na niya,” Cham excitedly shared. 

Cham and Mike are hopeful for the continuous improvement in Aeric’s condition, but they’re also preparing for worse scenarios. “Ako naman, sobra naman akong positive. Naghihintay pa kami ng session sa dev ped, pero honestly, parang nakakakita na rin ako ng signs of autism sa kanya. May ganu’n akong feeling,” Cham said.

The World Health Organization says that autism or Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) “constitutes a diverse group of conditions related to the development of the brain.” ASD and GDD are different, although they may have some similar signs and symptoms—the former is a neurological and developmental disorder that affects how people behave and interact with others, while the latter is defined as a neurodevelopmental disorder where a child under five years old falls behind developmentally. Just as Cham did when she noticed something was amiss, she encourages parents to be more observant of their child's progress and needs, trust their instinct, and consult a doctor as soon as possible. 

Sharing her and Aeric’s journey

As a content creator, Cham is known for being authentic; although her feed is curated, she doesn’t shy away from sharing with her followers the not-so-beautiful realities of motherhood. She didn’t plan to be an influencer; she simply gained a following when she posted about her joys and struggles as a first-time mom. 

“Nagka-post partum depression ako. And then, parang na-realize ko na ang dami-dami nakaka-relate du’n,” said Cham, who is also a breastfeeding advocate. She then began opening up about her motherhood journey on social media, and that resonated with people and even brands.

Now, she faces a new challenge as a parent and is learning more about her child’s condition. It took her some time to post about Aeric's GDD diagnosis on social media because she was afraid to be judged. 

She had moments when she would ask herself, “Ano ba ’yung ginawa kong mali? Feeling ko kasalanan ko as a mom.” She also feared that Aeric would be judged and didn’t want people to treat him differently. 

“Wala namang gustong mommy na maging divergent ’yung anak niya. ’Di ba gusto naman nating lahat maging normal. Lagi ko ngang prayer dati na kahit hindi na cute or intelligent or smart, basta normal lang and healthy,” Cham said. 

Now that they can finally open up about Aeric’s condition, Cham wants to maximize her platform to help break the stigma and enlighten other parents, knowing that having that sense of community with others who may be going through a similar situation could help all of them cope better. When she met Stephanie Zubiri, whose son has ASD, Cham found comfort in knowing there are people she can turn to for some advice or even a pep talk to cope with anxiety. 

“Gusto ko siyang maging advocacy para kahit papaano makaramdam din ’yung ibang moms na hindi sila nag-iisa,” Cham concluded. This career woman has a newfound purpose, and you can bet she’ll give her 101% to caring for her family and maybe even help other families in the process, too.  

Related: Stephanie Zubiri’s Thoughtful Words for Parents Raising Children on the Spectrum

Photos from @chammagsaysay