VINOD is three years old. He's standing in front of me in my clinic, and trying hard to answer, "What is your name?"

For a few minutes, he chooses to remain silent. When the question is repeated, and when his mother keeps prodding him, he makes an attempt. I can see the stress on his face, and his facial and neck muscles are standing out.

"Vi-Vi-Vi-Vi-Vi-nod" he manages.

"See," says his mother, "this is how he speaks. Doc, my son is stammering and I want you to do something about it. It’s driving me and my family nuts to think that we’ve produced a child with such a big defect."

A child, who started to speak normally at the age of one and half or two, suddenly starts to stammer. "He was absolutely fine, all of a sudden, he started to stutter" most mothers will lament.

And the immediate worry, apart from feeling bad or let down, is the oncoming interviews to pre-school. "Doc, which school will give my child admission, with such a big handicap?" is what most mothers want to know.

Photograph: stock.Xchng