Q: My child is 5 years old and is in UKG. He gets fever and cold very often. There is hardly any month, when we don't have to take him to the doctor. Doctors have performed all the required tests and everything is normal. Doctor says it is common in some children and will be all right after he is 5 or 7 years old. Is it common or is anything wrong with him? He looks healthy and weighs 20 kg. He started speaking very late, nearly after 3 and half years. Now he speaks the mother tongue very well but faces some problem while speaking at school. He can understand both Hindi and English. But he faces problem while giving reply. For example, when he hasn't got a pencil to write, he just sits without writing at school. But he never tells the teacher that he hasn't got the pencil. He lacks attention too. When someone asks him about anything, I have to explain to him that he needs to answer. Is anything wrong with him? How can I improve his attention?

A:Its possible that you have an intelligent child who is also very sensitive and shaky about himself. Watch yourself and see if you are constantly correcting/teaching/policing him or doing other things to improve him. Be patient with him and try and be someone he can be comfortable around. We parents sometimes overdo it, especially with single children. Also, I think a speech therapist will be helpful in suggesting few simple techniques to enhance expressive vocabulary.