Q: My three year old son is speaking only single words but does not join them. He says words like papa, mummy etc. Other wise he is very active. His weight at the time of birth was 2.2kg. He could walk at sixteen months after taking physiotherapy. Till today the doctors are saying he will speak after some time. Since we are worried, we have checked up with neurologists who advised a MRI which was found normal. His head size is slightly on the higher side of the average. Please suggest what can be the reason for this problem and how should we proceed?

A:From the details you have provided about your sons delayed speech and language development, I would first suggest a developmental norms test where we will know his current developmental age as compared with other children his age. Ideally, he should be evaluated by a team of occupational, speech and physiotherapists along with the other medical tests. Where are you located? Maybe I can suggest the right place for you to take him to.