Q: My 3 years and 4 months old daughter is facing difficulty in pronouncing words. The only thing that she can say is dad and mum. When she was 9 months old, she suffered from fits and she was admitted to hospital. The doctor diagnosed her and gave Epillium syrup to be consumed for 1 year and she did not have any problem. But my worry is that I have not seen much progress in her speech ability and development. She likes to play with pen and papers, where she will start making circles until a page is full. If I try to take it away, she cries until she gets it back. Also, in public places, she will be hyperactive, as she starts running around. She is not afraid of strangers. Also, during night time she frequently wakes up and so we give her some milk to calm her and put her back to sleep.

A:Since your child has a problem with speech, it would be necessary to check her hearing. A doctor specialising in ENT could do that for you. If that is found to be alright, you would have to find the reason for her slow speech and being overactive. Try and see if you can get a Psychologist or Counsellor or even just an experienced teacher of young children to suggest what can be done. With the few details you have given, I am not able to tell you what her condition is. Whatever the problem may be, as parents, you will have to be patient with the child, to get her to attend to the toys and games etc. When the mother is involved in doing daily routines for the child, like bathing, dressing and feeding she should be talking to her, giving her names (labels) for the things used. Maybe some music which the child enjoys could be played regularly, so that she picks up some words. Books, especially picture books could be given to the child, to make her familiar with the things in them. The child could be given some physical activities in the home, like running and jumping.