Q: My three and a half years old daughter has started stammering recently. She was talking very clearly earlier but these days she seems to be searching for words, which she knew very well before. She has been introduced to English since she started going to school about 6 months back. Now her speech has both the languages in it, except that she stammers and it seems to be getting worse now. A child specialist told me that she is tongue-tied and may have speech problems. Since she was talking well earlier, I did not give a thought to it. Please advise.

A:Please clarify the myth that being tongue-tied can lead to stammering - no. The proof is your own daughter who according to you was very clear when she was younger. Had her problem been due to tongue tie she would have never been clear at the first place. Stammering is due to a number of reasons which are mostly psychological in nature but vary greatly from person to person. Please get her assessed by a qualified speech therapist at the earliest before her problem becomes worse. Its only after her assessment, treatment can be discussed.