OUR BABIES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16284, 26 November 1920, Page 9

OUR BABIES.

(B.v "HYGEIA.f Publiihed nndar the auspices of the Bojal New Zealand Society for th* Health of Women and Children. “It in wiser to put up a fence at the top of a precipice then to maintain an tmbuUnce at the bottom," STAMMERING OF OLDER CHILDREN. (Confirmed.) In last week’s article, after giving a summary of the special lines of treat-1 ment for serious stuttering, we concluded with the. following sentence from Sir Frederick Still:— Before all else there are two rules to which the stutterer, .must pay attention if ho is to he cured; — 1. Speak slowly. 2. Speak quietly. Dr Still goes on to say:— .But the treatment of stuttering consists not only in the education of speech ; it involves also in many cases attention to the general health." It is very noticeable in some children that stutter only when they are “ run down, ’ and it may be more necessary tc advise a stay at the seaside or some other change of environment than to give directions for the training of speech. The child may need treatment for worms. The effect of fatigue is also to be remembered, and both physical and menial exertion must be limited. CAN LEFT-HANDEDNESS HAVE ANY BEARING ON-STUTTER-ING? Our correspondent " Grandmother ” asks this question. She says:— A little boy in whom I am interested has been left-handed. Since going to school be lias been taught, to use his right hand in writing, etc. He has lately developed a. stammer, which seems to be increasing. Are the two things connected, and should he he allowed to use his left hand, as ho is naturally inclined to do? REPLY. No doubt the attempt to get a child who is markedly left-handed trained to use the other baud in writing would tend in the direction of putting an extra strajn on his |>o\vers ut co-ordination, and in that way might cause nervous aisturoance in regions quite remote Horn the hand—particularly in the region of speech. , ‘ The explanation of this is very simple. While the hand and the mouth are distant from one another, the centres hi the brain which regulate the movements required in speaking and writing are immediately alongside one another, and when a child is learning to write he ■omimonly screws up his mouth or puts out his tonguo owing to His inability to prevent the activity which ho has set upi in the one brain area! (the centre for writing) from spreading more or less into the adjacent brain area (the. centre for speech). One of the great tasks of early childhood consists in learning to control and limit action to the parts of Uio body which the child wants to make use of at the moment. It would be impossible to say offhand without seeing and studying‘the particular child how far (t would be desirable for him to practise writing until the- stuttering has been cured. Probably it would be best to limit writing in the meantime to the form of practice used in the Montossori system, where the child merely follows the outlines of the letter in the same way as he may copy a, picture by means of tracing paper or a drawing slate, but with even less tax on his co-ordinating powers owing to the pen or stylo being automatically guided in the right lines. In this way the nervous and muscular mechanism of writing can be trained correctly, and gfven practice with a. minimum of tax on the organism. It is so extremely important to cure the stuttering completely as sunn as. possible that 1 am inclined to think it would be desirable to act as I have just) .suggested, and to let everything else be considered as quite secondary to the establishment of proper control of the complex nervous and muscular mechanisms of speech. Probably the difficulty could be got over in a short time if due attention were paid to the essentials of treatment I have indicated, and at the same time a, very great improvement could he brought about in the little boy's general health, vigour, and growth by ■ keeping him out all day in the open air —not idle, but interestingly occupied, and pleasantly associated with companions as much as possible. Nothing tones up the nervous system better than gradual habituation to taking a. cold bdth every morning on lising—this to he followed by twenty minutes of active exercise, so as to start, .tho day well. Fresh air day and night, simple regular meals, useful occupation, recreation and rest, early to Tied and early to vise—but not less than ten hours in bed—these, are the fundamental requirements.