STAMMERING

Greymouth Evening Star, 23 July 1930, Page 2

STAMMERING

CAUSE AND REMEDY. The tendency to-day is to account for the stammering habit by calling it.a purely nervous disorder, says Mr. ,H. St. John Rumsey, instructor for speech defects, at Guy’s Hospital, in the London “Daily Telegraph.” Careful observation of children in general and stammerers in particular reveals the fact that nearly all small children between the ages of four and seven “stumble” in speech. At this stage the “stumble” in speech amounts to no more than the “stumble” which is universal in the case of all children learning to,walk. . . • ’ . . , By. .the age of seven control of ..speech is established by ninety-nine children out of every hundred. It is from this moment that the child begins to be a “nervous stammerer,” and a vicious circle gradually establishes itself. First the child is nervous, because... .of'the stammer; then, anticipating failure to speak fluently, he fails more, frequently than ever..... Granted,...then, ..that the nervous stammerer has., established a vicious circle, the problem of a method. of cure .presents itself. .. Now,., it is an undeniable fact that all stammerers over-emphasise their consonants and consequently “clip” their vowels. ■lt is because when singing the . attention is concentrated on the .vowels that all stammerers can sing fluently. If. .stammerers will stress., their vowels they, will find that their consonants cease to present any difficulty. It is no easy matter to break down a habit of ten or. twenty years, but if the attention is concentrated on all the vowel ounds stammerers will find a steadily increasing fluency. This will react on their “nerves,” and as the cause of their nervousness disappears their nervousness must decrease. Ninetenths of the cure rests with the stammerer himself.'