Stammering, its cause and cure

by Benjamin Nathaniel Bogue

(1)—Those with organic defects;
(2)—Those with diseased condition of the brain;
(3)—Those who have postponed treatment until their malady has progressed so far into the chronic stage as to make treatment valueless;
(4)—Those who refuse to obey instructions;
(5)—Those who persist in dissipation, regardless of effects;
(6)—Those of below normal intelligence;
(7)—Those who will not make the effort to be cured.

Stutterers and stammerers whose trouble arises from an organic defect are so few as to be almost an exception, but where those cases exist, they must be regarded as incurable. The re-educational process used in the successful method of curing stuttering and stammering will not replace a defective organ of the body with a new one. It will not cure harelip or cleft palate, nor will it loosen the tongue of the child who has been hopelessly tongue-tied from birth.

A boy was brought to me some years ago by his parents in the hope that his speech trouble might be eradicated, but it was found upon examination that he had always been tongue-tied and that the deformity would not permit of the normal, natural movements of the tongue necessary to proper speaking. I immediately told the parents the unfortunate condition of their son and frankly stated that in his condition there was no possibility of my being able to help him.

DISEASED BRAIN: Taking up the second class—those who have a diseased condition of the brain—these cases, too, are very rare. I have met but a comparatively few. Where a lesion of the brain has occurred, and a distinct change has thus been brought about in the physical structure of that organ, an attempt to bring about a cure would be a waste of time—hopeless from the start.

THE PROCRASTINATORS: The third type of incurable cases is that of the stammerer or stutterer who, against all advice and experience, has persisted in the belief that his trouble would be outgrown and who has by this means allowed the disorder to progress so far into the chronic stage as to make treatment entirely without effect.

This type of incurable is very numerous. They usually start in childhood with a case of simple stuttering which, if treated then, could be eradicated quickly and easily. From this stage they usually pass into the trouble of a compound nature, known as combined stammering and stuttering. Here, also, their malady would yield readily to proper methods of treatment, but instead of giving it the attention so badly needed, they allow it to pass into a severe case of Spasmodic Stammering, and from this into the most chronic stage of that trouble. The malady becomes rooted in the muscular system. The nervous strain and continued fear tear down all semblance of mental control and in time the sufferer is in a condition that is hopeless indeed, a condition where he is subject for the pity and the sympathy of every one who stammers, and yet a condition brought on purely by his own neglect and wilfulness.

I recall the case of a father who brought his boy of 16 to see me some years ago. At that time, the boy represented one of the worst cases of stammering I ever saw. He could scarcely speak at all. He made awful contortions of the face and body when attempting to speak. When he succeeded in uttering sounds, these resembled the deep bark of a dog. These sounds were totally unintelligible, save upon rare occasions, when he would be able to speak clearly enough to make himself understood. I gave the boy the most searching personal diagnosis and very carefully inspected his condition both mental and physical, after which I was convinced that he could be cured, with time and persistent work. The father was given the result of my findings and told of the boy's condition. He decided to take the boy home, talk the matter over and place him under my care the next week. Ten days later he wrote me saying that the boy had secured a job in a garage at $6 a week and could not think about being cured of stammering at that time.

Two and a half years later—the boy was nearing twenty—I saw him again, and even after all my experience in meeting stammerers, could hardly believe that stammering could bring about such a terrible condition as this boy was in at that time. His mental faculties were entirely shattered. His concentration was gone. This poor boy was merely a blubbering, stumbling idiot, a sight to move the stoutest heart, a living example of the result of carelessness and parental neglect. Needless to say, I would not consider his treatment in such a condition. There was no longer any foundation to build on—no longer the slightest chance for benefiting the boy in the least.

THE WILFULLY DISOBEDIENT CASES: Taking up the fourth class of incurables, those who refuse to obey instructions—I can only say that such as these are not deserving of a cure. They are not sincere, they are not willing to hold themselves to the simplest program no matter how great might be the resultant good. They spend their own money or the money of their parents foolishly, get no results and disgust the instructor who spends his or her efforts in trying to bring about a cure, against obstacles that no one can overcome, viz.: unwillingness to do as told. The old saying that "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink" applies most forcefully to the case of the wilfully disobedient stammerer. You can instruct this individual in the methods to bring about a cure, but you can't make him follow them.

I well remember one case in point. A young man of 20 years came to me apparently with every desire in the world to be cured of stammering. The first day he followed instructions with great care, seemed to take a wonderful interest in his work and at the end of the day expressed to me his pleasure in finding himself improved even with one day's work. By the third day, the novelty had worn off and his "smart-aleck" tendencies began to come to the surface. He was impertinent. He was impudent. He was rude. He failed to come to his work promptly in the morning, was late at meals, stayed out at night beyond the time limit set by the dormitory rules and persisted in doing everything in an irregular and wilfully disobedient manner.