SPEECH IMPEDIMENTS.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 146, 27 July 1914, Page 5

SPEECH IMPEDIMENTS.

CURING STAMMERING.

One of the Christchurcli Post Office officials, Mr H. R. Brunt, recently returned from a visit to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he had spent a holiday on leave of absence. He gave a SUN representatne some interesting information with reference to methods adopted in the United Stales for treating stammering and kindred speech impediments. "There are several well-equipped institutions in various parts of the States,'' said Mr Brunt, '' but the school with the most successful system is the one attended at Milwaukee. In a nutshell, the method adopted is to teach every student to practiste breathing from the diaphragm instead of the chest, to blend words and syllables into each other, and thus as far as possible preserve continuity of voice. Then the right mental attitude should be cultivated, positive versus negative. "The consonants b, t, d, and k generally prove the most difficult for a stammerer, '' said Mr Brunt, '' and the remedy suggested is for the student to ignore the consonant and think only of the preceding vowel. "From a psychological viewpoint the subject is most interesting, as not one case manifests the same symptoms as another. One stammerer might be able to talk fairly freely in general desultory conversation, but to speak on the telephone would present the gravest difficulty. - The actual impediment was never hereditary, but a child could inherit a predisposition favourable to reproducing the trouble. Mimicry of another or a severe nervous shock in early youth would easily induce the commencement.'' In the United States and Canada the number of stammerers is estimated at 800,000, and this number is rapidly increasing. "It would be -interesting to know,'' added Mm Brunt, 4 ' just how many cases there are in our public schools in Christchurch, and also what means, if any, are being taken to remedv the defect.''