My child does not concentrate on his studies, what to do?

Q: My son is 7 years old. He is healthy and intelligent. The problem with him is that he cannot concentrate while studying. He is sort of absent minded and day dreams a lot. Given a small amount of homework, if not reminded frequently, he will stand with the open book for hours just dreaming. He never completes the class work. Generally he gets good marks in exams but finishes the same in exra time. While reading, he reads words wrongly even if they are very familiar to him and the same happens while writing i.e. he will say the correct spelling but write it wrongly. Is this a handicap and can it be treated?

A:Your son seems to be a normal intelligent child. Some amount of fantasy and day-dreaming can be normal at this age. Please get him assessed by a clinical psychologist for dyslexia, a disorder where a child may have difficulty in writing and spelling, and take necessary action if recommended.