Stammering, Its Cause and Cure - Benjamin Nathaniel Bogue (short books for teens .TXT) 📗

formerly done, was now constant, indicating that he was in the chronic stage of his difficulty. Aside from his Spasmodic Stammering, he seemed unable to think of the things which he wished to say. In other words, his trouble had been affecting him so long that he had lost the power to recall and control the mental images necessary to the formation of words.

I not only gave him the usual examination but applied the special Bogue test, both of which convinced me that his case was far into the incurable stage. There was little or nothing I could do for him at that late date and so I told him. He acted as if dazed for a few moments, and when the full force of the truth dawned upon him, it was as if a cord had snapped and broken. Hope was gone. He was an incurable—and knew it now, only too well. And as he turned and left me, I knew from the droop of the shoulders and the hang of the head, that life meant but little to him now. He was merely waiting—waiting for the last page to be written and his book of despair to be closed.

Case No. 34.444—This young woman was very talented, had a beautiful singing voice and could not understand why she was unable to speak fluently when she could sing so well. The cause of her trouble was distinctly mental and did not lie in any defective formation of the vocal organs but rather in a lack of coordination between the brain and the muscles of speech. In her case, the speech disorder had not materially affected her health, although she admitted it had impaired her power of will and her ability to concentrate. Six weeks put her in good condition and gave her the opportunity to use her beautiful voice to excellent advantage in speaking as well as in singing—much to her satisfaction.

Case No. 667.788—This man came to me for assistance and relief from a severe case of Combined Stammering and Stuttering. He shook like a leaf when he talked, was very nervous, and could hardly sit still. His speech was marked by loose and hurried repetitions of syllables and words, alternating with a slow and seemingly dazed repetition of words, as though he did not know what he was saying.

In a few moments, I learned that he was a habitual alcoholic, that he was acquainted with the Delirium Tremens and that he frequently went upon sprees lasting a week, which left him a physical wreck. He had no backbone, there was no foundation to build on and his case was declined as incurable, not altogether from the condition of his speech, but because it is useless and hopeless to attempt treatment of the stammerer who is also a chronic dissipator.

Case No. 34.343—This was the case of a young man who came to me at the age of 17. He was one of the type that “seldom stammer.” He explained this to me and told me that many of his friends were not aware of the fact that he stammered.

I gave him an examination and found his trouble to be a case of Combined Stammering and Stuttering in the second stage. He was of the Intermittent Type and at intervals his trouble became very bad, at which times he made it a point not to go out among his friends—one of the reasons which made it possible for him to say that his friends did not know of his speech trouble.

This young man came to me hoping that I would tell him that his trouble was not severe and that he would outgrow it in a few years. I was able to tell him that at the time his case was not an extremely bad one, but I knew that instead of being outgrown it would become ingrown, and I so told him.

But he decided to postpone action until some later date, feeling sure, despite what I had told him, that he would outgrow his stammering.

Four and a half years later, he came back. This time he did not say that his friends knew nothing of his trouble. He was in bad condition, his “seldom stammering,” as he had called it, was chronic now and the painful expression on his face when he tried to talk was ample proof of the condition in which he had allowed himself to get. His trouble had passed into Genuine Stammering and was of a very severe nature. There was no thought of postponement in his mind at this time and he placed himself for treatment immediately. Eight weeks’ time saw his work completed, with excellent results. His fear was gone, his confidence renewed and his health greatly improved, in addition to being able to talk fluently.

Case No. 66.788—Here was the case of a man of 30, a preacher, who found no difficulty in preaching to his congregation, from the pulpit, but whose trouble immediately got the best of him the moment he went down into the church and attempted to carry on a conversation individually. This became so embarrassing to him that he finally gave up the idea of passing through his congregation, but satisfied himself with standing at the door and greeting them as they passed out. This, too, he was later compelled to give up on account of his speech, although during none of this time did he have the slightest trouble in delivering his sermons.

His was a case of Genuine Stammering. The mental control when he was in the pulpit was almost normal. Talking to individuals, this control was quickly shattered. He placed himself for treatment after having secured a brother-pastor to fill his place for two months. He was a good student, obedient to instruction, concentrating on his work with a creditable energy. As a result, in five weeks’ time, he found himself able to talk to anybody under any condition without the slightest sticking or fear. He could talk over the telephone and was master of himself under the cross-fire of conversation which in his previous state had bothered him so seriously.

Case No. 48.336—This is a case that represents a very common type of Combined Stammering and Stuttering, and a type that is not so quickly cured as might be imagined. This was a young man of 18, who not only stammered but stuttered. His speech disorder, however, was further complicated by a bad habit of prefixing a totally foreign word or sound to the word or sound which he found it difficult to pronounce. “B” was one of his hard sounds and in speaking the sentence: “We expect to leave Baltimore,” he would say: “We expect to leave ah—ah—ah—Baltimore.”

The fear of failure which caused him to acquire this habit of speaking, led his friends often to think that his mind wandered, although as a matter of fact, he was a very bright young fellow, without a single indication of Thought Lapse.

I diagnosed his case as Combined Stammering and Stuttering, and explained to him that he represented a type of stammering that might be called the “Prefix Stammerer” because of their habit of prefixing every hard sound with an easy word or an easy sound, even to the extent of losing the sense of the sentence—so great is the “Prefix Stammerer’s” fear of failure.

He placed himself for treatment, and although his trouble was complicated by this prefixing habit, seven weeks put him in good shape. He forgot his fear of failure, found every word an easy word and every sound an easy sound. He learned to talk fluently again and returned to his home, both physically and mentally improved.

Case No. 98.656—This was the case of a rather arrogant young man from a good family, who was too proud to admit that he was a stammerer. Rather it should be said, he was too foolish to admit it. He was well-educated and with the store of words at his command, succeeded for some years in concealing the fact that he stammered. This he accomplished by the substitution of words. That is, words beginning with those letters that he could not utter were not used. If his sentence included such a word, he quickly substituted another word of somewhat similar meaning, but beginning with a letter that he could pronounce correctly. This substitution of words was so well done that for some time it was scarcely noticeable to the average listener. Often he found himself incorrectly understood, because of his inability to use the right word in the right place, but nevertheless he was successful in concealing his speech defect from many of his friends.

This case is of a type known as the “Synonym Stammerer” because synonyms are used to avoid stammering. The mental strain of trying always to substitute easy words for hard ones, was very great, however, and after a few years’ practice, the strain began to tell on the young man. It affected his health and made him nervous and irritable.

It was at this time that he came to me. Genuine Stammering was his trouble, and so it was diagnosed. He refused to admit that he had a severe case, although the truth of the matter was, he did stammer badly and the mental power which had sustained him in his attempts to speak, was being steadily weakened by what we might term misuse.

He placed himself for treatment, although in a frame of mind that did not augur well for his success, but by the end of the third day his mental attitude had entirely changed, he came to realize the immense difference between being able to speak fluently and naturally and being compelled to substitute synonyms. From that day forth he was one of my best students. His education stood him in good stead, his enthusiasm was so spontaneous as to be contagious and at the end of four and a half weeks, he departed, as thoroughly changed for the better as anyone could wish. The arrogance was gone. In its place was something better—a sure-footed confidence in his ability to talk—and this was a confidence based on real ability—not on bluff. He was no longer nervous and irritable—and in fact, before leaving, he had won his way into the hearts of his associates to the extent that all were sorry when he left and felt that they had made the acquaintance of a young man of remarkable power.

Five years later, I met him in New York, quite by accident. He was in charge of his father’s business, had made a wonderful success of his work and was universally respected and admired by those who knew him. Even to this young man, who to many would have seemed to have all that he could desire, freedom of speech opened new and greater opportunities.

If I had the space to do so within the covers of one volume, I would gladly give many more cases, with description and diagnosis as well as results of treatment. Specific cases are always interesting, illuminating and conclusive. They show theory in practice and opinions backed by actual results.

But lack of space makes it impossible to give additional cases here. Those which have been given are typical cases—not the unusual ones. The out-of-the-ordinary cases have been avoided and the common types dwelt upon with the idea of “giving the greatest good to the greatest number.”

Every reader of this volume who lives today under the constant handicap of a speech disorder, may well take new hope from the thought that “What man hath done, man can do”—again!