Q: I have two sons. The elder one is 7 years old is in class one while the younger one is 5.5 years old. My younger son was born premature and because of the small age gap between the two of them, the elder one was neglected. We realised this when he was unable to make sentences as compared to other children of his age. Although he knows each and every thing still he faces difficulty in making sentences. We got his IQ tested and the results were - Drawing MA6 IQ 100, Seq. Form Board MA 6 1/2 IQ 108 and VSMS MA 4 1/2 and IQ 75. Sometimes he uses a language, which is not understandable and also bites himself when under pressure. Also, he is unable to understand what is being taught in class, especially English, Maths and EVS. My younger son understands everything very easily. We consulted a psychiatrist too and he said that he would improve as he grows. He is very fond of drawing, music, computers and almost crazy about colours. When he is unable to understand or he is not in a mood to study or is under some pressure, he repeats the questions, which we are trying to make him learn. He is improving day by day in his sentence making ability and now he talks to us, especially what he wants very easily but still he is not as good as his peers. In short his behaviour is different from other kids in the class and because of this we are getting complaints from class. Please help.

A:Since your older son is improving, you are now doing the right thing by him. Give him a chance to do what he likes to do and is good at. When his confidence is built up, he will surely improve. There are children’s stories on CDs, which are read out by well-known actors. Some of them have music. Maybe you should try and get some of them, so that both the boys can enjoy them and also learn to speak well. Schools expect every child to be a good student. I hope some of them see a film like ‘Taare Zamin Par’ and get the main message from it, that children are different from each other. They thrive best when they are valued for who they are and not for what they can achieve. Even if your child’s teachers do not quite see the point, you, as parents could certainly do so.