OUR BABIES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3861, 13 March 1928, Page 68

OUR BABIES.

Hyoria.

By

Published under the auspice* ef the Royal New Zealand Society for the Health « Women and Children (Plunket Society). "It le wiser to put up a fence at the top ef a precipice than to maintain an ambulance at the bottem."

PLUNKET NURSES, ETC., DUNEDIN BRANCH. NURSES' SERVICES FREE. Nurses O’Shea (telephone 23-348), Isbiater (telephone 10-866), Thomson, Scott, and Ewart (telephone 10-216), and Mathieson (telephone 23-020). Society’s Rooms: Jamieson's Buildings, 6 Lower Stuart street (telephone 10-216), Office hours, daily from 2 to 4 p.m. (except Saturday and Sunday) and 10 a.m to noon on Tuesdays Thursdays and Fridays; 315 King Edward street. South Dunedin, 2 to 4 p.m. daily (except Saturday and Sunday), and 10 a.m to noon on Fridays; also 125 Highgate. Roslyn—Monday and Thursday from 2 to 4 p.m.; Parkhill avenue, Mornington. Wednesdays, 2 to 4 p.m.; Kelsey-Yaralla Kindergarten, Monday and Friday from 2 to 4 p.m.; and at 99 Musselburgh Rise, Wednesdays. 2 to 4 p.m. Out-stations: Baptist Church, Gordon road, Mosgiel, Tuesday afternoons from 3 to 4 o’clock; Presbyterian Church Hall, Outram, alternate Fridays, 2 to 4 p.m.; Municipal Buildings-, Port Chalmers, Wednesday afternoons from 2 to 4 o’clock; also Hall, Macandrew’s Bay, Fridays, 2 to 4 p.m. Secretary, Miss G. Hoddinott, Jamie son’s Buildings, Stuart street (telephone 10-216). Karitane-Harris Baby Hospital, Anderson’s Bay (telephone 22-985). Matron, Miss Hitchcock., Demonstrations given on request every Wednesday afternoon from 2.30 by Plunket Nurses and Karitane Baby Nurses. Visiting hours: 2 to 4 p.m., Wednesday. Friday, and Sunday. STUTTERING IN CHILDREN. From time to time we are asked to advise about the cause and the treatment of stammering or stuttering in children, and we hope the following remarks, may prove helpful to parents faced with the management of this problem. Stuttering is, of course, a manifestion of “ nervousness ” in children, and may be described as a “ co-ordination neurosis.” The Mechanism of Speech. Good articulate speech is brought about by the more or less perfect co-ordination of three physical mechanisms presided over and directed by three separate centres of the nervous system, each of which has to be drilled to play its part in due time find harmony with the other two. The three mechanisms are as follows:—

First, the bellows —in other words, the chest, which needs to be alternately inflated and compressed so as to maintain a more or less steady flow of air. Secondly, the larynx, a marvellous little musical pipe iu the throat, through which the air from the bellows passes, regulated by the vocal cords. Thirdly', the articulatory and resonating mechanism, of which the main chamber is the mouth, where the muscles of the tongue, jaws, and cheeks play their part. The marvel is that any child can ever learn to co-ordinate these three separate mechanisms properly, seeing that each mechanism is itself complex and needs co-ordination within its own sphere, quite apart from the task of acting in due accord with the other two. Obviously such a wonderful complex of complexes should not be overtaxed .or unduly stimulated. An Illustration of Co-ordination.

A consideration of violin or ’cello playing may be helpful in attempting to realise the difficulties of co-ordination, and how easily they may be upset. In playing the violin one hand is engaged in drawing the bow across the strings, whilst the other hand has the duty of directing articulation of the sounds, as it were, by means of the Augers playing on the strings. Excitement, over-anxiety 7, or over-taxing and fatigue may cause the pupil to make rapid, spasmodic movements of the fingers on the strings while neglecting to draw the bow, and this mayalternate with a frantic drawing of the bow, and failure to manipulate the strings. Carry the same idea into -the playing of a wind instrument and you have the common phenomenon heard in stutterers who gasp and produce no sound beyond a mere indraw or meaningless phonation, and perhaps ' alternate this with spasmodic grimaces. Temperament. Naturally, people with a “nervous” temperament—quick, alert, responsive, and super-sensitive—are more likely to suffer from any form of defective power of control than those whose reactions are slower, and who, on the whole, would be classed as less bright and clever but more s"ble. Over-stimulation. Some children are “ brought out,” taught to recite, sing, and otherwise perform before an audience. Apart from the fact that such practices usually mean loss of precious sleeping time, the consequent over-stimulation of the - brain and nervous system is thoroughly bad, and may lead to various nervous manifestations, amongst which are stuttering, twFtehings, annoying little tricks, and in extreme instances more or less complete nervous 7 breakdown-. Although some children appear to learn and perform without effort, and-such are probably less taxed, than their slower sisters, who undergo a more definite forcing process, the practice is wrong, in either case, and the ultimate result is wholly bad. .Charming as it undoubtedly is to watch a child perform, the sight lobes its charm

once one realises the , damage which may v , ono rapidly growing, delicate little brain and - nervous system by such over-strain. Learnt songs too often crush the song within—the natural, beautL ful, unconscious urge to sing and shout at play. Curiously enough, constant over-sup. pression, nagging, or failure to under, stand a child may bring about somewhat similar nervous tricks in a highly-strung, sensitive child. Treatment. . The treatment largely lies, of course in removal of the cause or causes, and then in re-education of the nervous co. ordination involved in correct articula. tion—not easy work on either line. Th<j most skilled medical advice should be sought and carefully carried out. Generally speaking, parents tend to aHow a trouble of this kind to develop insidiously tor some time before making any systematic attempt to counteract it and only consult a doctor when the habit has become thoroughly confirmed. Thia is a great mistake. The earliest signa ot any manifestation of nervous incoordination should receive serious atten. tion. Treatment is infinitely easier in the early stages, and the chances of an ultimate cure much greater.