KILLED BY KINDNESS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20722, 15 November 1930, Page 7 (Supplement)

KILLED BY KINDNESS.

■ti is a larger proportion of weaklings Rmong only children than in families of fliree or four, and tho majority of stammerers come from their ranks also, writes a medical authority.

Nine times out of ten, I frankly tell the parents they have themselves to blame for tnuch of the trouble. Naturally they do not agree with me, but in a few minutes' conversation it is easy to detect the constant note of affectionate warning :in the voice when they speak to the child. This, of course, is a psychological reaction, for the mother and father are,

8s a rule, wrapped up in tho youngster, and tbey are terrified lest any harm should befall it. Very soon the child echoes their own fear. Sometimes, as a result of too much parental pride and the inherent desire to show off one s offspring in company, they " turn dog," and become sulky and morose. It is only an intense form of nervousness very often. Children who stammer generally have a very active brain. the company of adults acts as a forcing house on them, and j tlio result is that their thoughts outrace their speech. The old motto, " Think before you speak, and then think again," is one of the main factors in the success of curing a child of this distressing habit. In the case of only children who are being treated and who, of course, go in for physical culture, I generally find that the parents think the poor little dear is too nervy to mix with other children. Once he gains confidence among his fellows, however, that, is part of the cure of nervousness and self-consciousness. One of the best ways of overcoming the fears of the child is to get tho parent to stay with 7 it during a lesson or two. As a matter of fact a good deal of the first two fir three lessons is directed at the parents, who usually respond to it very good-naturedly, once they realise how much depends on them.