At The First Signs of Stammering

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLV, Issue 21091, 18 July 1938, Page 12

At The First Signs of Stammering

How To Deal With Children

should be done when a chile begins to show signs of stammering or stuttering? The question was discussed when Linda mentioned that one of her friends was worried about the habit appearing in her four-years-old son. “She is afraid that it will grow upon him,” Linda explained, “but when she tries to correct him she only nu.kcs matters worse. She would like to know if there is anything she can do to stop it.” Actually a great many children pass through a phase w me they show a speech difficulty of this nature, but in .the majority of cases it passes and they

‘ outgrow it. ; Strangely, too, this is usually around the ages of four or five years and it is significant that this is a time of transi- , tion in a child's life, the period at .which he begins to make his adaptation ■ to a wider social life outside the family group. Lake ail transitional stages, it . is a time of .‘tress. The most important step in attempting to prevent a st. mmer developing and making it. victim's life a misery is to

see that the child is kept as free as possi’ le from all nervous strain and irritatic i. For example, his day should be carefully planned and his activities reduced to a simple routine, so that meals, toilet, play and sleep can be followed smoothly without fuss or worry. He should lie free of all but the simplest responsibilities for the time being and any sport or lessons requiring him to enter into keen competition with others should be suspended till a ’ate- date.