Handicaps of Childhood

by H. Addington Bruce

Facts like these, I repeat, have long been observed and commented on by specialists in the treatment of stammering; but they have, for the most part, been dismissed as mere "oddities," while emphasis has been laid on the single fact that, in the majority of cases, stammerers have had parents or other relatives who themselves stammered. "Heredity," consequently, has been assumed to be the one and sufficient explanation of all stammering; and it has also been assumed that what is inherited is either an anatomical or a physiological defect. Hence, in too many instances, the use of the surgeon's knife; and, hence, the invention of innumerable systems designed to train the stammerer in the correct use of his breathing and articulating organs—in a word, systems intended to teach him how to talk.

But, as even the most enthusiastic exponents of these corrective systems are now beginning to appreciate, whatever else the stammerer may need, he does not need to be taught how to talk. For he can talk well enough on occasion. Nothing is more significant, from the standpoint of assisting to a clear understanding of the nature of stammering, than the fact that there are uncommonly few stammerers who have any difficulty in speaking when nobody is with them. On this point, every stammerer with whom I have been in touch is in remarkable agreement, and others who have had a far wider acquaintance with stammerers testify to the same effect. For example, Mr. Charles L. Rowan, of Milwaukee, a gentleman who has stammered for years and has made a close study of the subject, informs me:

"When I am alone—and the same is true of other stammerers—I have no speech difficulty whatever, and can talk or read aloud for hours with ease. It is only when I am with others that I halt and stammer in my speech. Sometimes I talk in my sleep, and the folks tell me I do not stammer then. But, if I am dreaming, and in the dream imagine myself talking, it is always in a stammer.

"I have also noticed that most stammerers talk better when the subject is light and frivolous than when it is something serious. And they talk better when conversing with people whom they regard as inferiors. I know a man who is a section foreman, and he says he can give orders to his negro and Mexican labourers perfectly, but if the roadmaster comes along he cannot talk to him at all."

And a stammerer from Spokane, Washington, informs me:

"I would like to say that there are periods when I can talk much better than for corresponding periods. Indeed, there are times, generally a few days at a time, when it is most difficult for me to talk with even a slight degree of correctness; and, then, there are periods of as long, or longer, duration when speech seems to flow with more ease, though never perfect, except for a few words in succession."

More than this, according to one diligent investigator, the majority of stammerers fail to stammer if addressed in such a way that their replies are made without their realising that they are talking. Says this observer:

"Suppose a stammerer is engaged in a deep study and unaware of your presence. You speak to him softly. He answers readily, without hesitation, in an absent manner. Again, you ask a careless question, implying by your manner that you do not expect or desire an answer; to this he quickly and easily replies also. Now, look straight at him and pointedly interrogate him. See, when it becomes necessary for him to speak, how he is thrown into confusion."

It has further been found that most stammerers are at their worst when in the presence of strangers. Some stammer scarcely at all when at home with their relatives and intimate friends. On the opposite, there are some who stammer worse than usual when with relatives. Not so long ago I learned of one stammerer—a young lady who had stammered from early childhood—whose trouble was most in evidence when she was talking with her mother. Almost all stammerers, too, enjoy temporary relief from their speech defect when greatly startled, angry, or otherwise excited.