Q: I have a 5 years old daughter. When she started speaking she was stammering, we thought that since it is the initial stage maybe she is unable to speak certain words and will get over it. But she is 5 years now and her stammering has increased so much so that she is not able to speak even one sentence correctly. She gets stuck in between and tries to force the word out but cannot. Somehow she completes it and then she takes a deep breath like she was completely devoid of air. I am doing breathing exercises with her and other forms of breathing like pranayam etc. But there is no improvement. Can you please advise me something? I have been to a speech therapist.

A:Three to five year old children can develop dysfluency in speech due to a variety of reasons but the fact remains that they are not able to maintain an ongoing flow of speech due to a lack of synchronicity between breathing, muscular control (tongue is a muscle) and flow of thoughts. how the parents handle this issue becomes vital in influencing how soon the child will overcome this phase in her life where there is a bundle of new thoughts all seeking to emerge as speech. parents should try to understand this subtle quandry and get professional help to guide them through. because right now, it is really the parents problem and not the child, who is generally not bothered about it.