Q: My son is 3 years and six months old. He has delayed speech. We have visited many doctors for ear tests but they do not suspect any problem in his ears. We then were referred to behavioural therapy and since then my child has improved a lot. He can now recognise and say many things from books. As instructed by the doctor we have to keep showing and teaching him things like apple, banana, dog cat, etc. He speaks quite a few words now. He makes eye contact as well. He tries to explain things but ends up with 'aaaaaaa' sound only most of the time. He speaks whatever words he knows clearly but when excited he only says 'aaaaa'. What further test should we do to find out what the real problem is? How can we check that he has delayed speech and not a brain disorder? He was totally alone between the age of 2 to 3 years as we live in Dubai. He used to watch TV most of the time as I was busy and my wife was not able to communicate.

A:I frequently see children who are delayed in speech development because of lack of a stimulating verbal environment just when they need it - i.e. from ages 1 to 3 years. You will now see him making a quantum jump in his expressive speech. All that he has heard so far (even from TV) is stored in his brain and he will now become increasingly confident in his verbal expression. Try and keep him with other children his age - in a nursery - but do this a bit gradually - do not always push him into speech and do not constantly try to stimulate him. Living in India is stimulating enough! Tape record the childs own spontaneous speech and then play it back to him. Let him get interested in his own speech. For some time, do not force him to speak in front of other elders. No display speech for next 3 months. You will find a remarkable change in him and forget about all your worries regarding anything wrong with his brain.