Q: My daughter, 9 years old is studying in 5th std and suffers from stammering. She had a skull fracture at the age of 3 caused by falling from bike. CT-brain taken at that time was normal. Is there any relationship between the skull fracture and stammering? What remedial action can be taken? The stammering was noticed at the age of 6 and it has increased over the last one year. It gets pronounced when she is excited; while pronouncing the letters ka, tha, cha, da; and also while initiating a sentence. She does not stammer while singing or reading. She does not hurry while eating or bathing and all her activities are normal. She is social and not shy at all. So far no one teases her but her teacher told us that the problem has to be taken care of. Please advise us regarding the treatment required.

A:While it is possible that the speech dysfluency (stammering / stuttering) could be a result of the skull fracture, it is also possible that other factors could have triggered this speech problem. Such factors could be psychological or environmental. Whatever the causative aetiology, the child could be helped by speech therapy and it is advised that parents consult a speech therapist.