Speech correction for stammerers.

Date:
[between 1935 and 1940?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Speech correction for stammerers. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Physical Accompaniments In serious cases of speech fright the sufferer may go red in the face, there may be trembling of the limbs, stop- page of saliva, spasmodic twitching of the mouth or face, cold perspiration and mental confusion in addition to the vocal defect. The nervous dread of speaking has a dulling and even a paralysing effect, and one of the worst states produced is the condition of nervous tension which disturbs all the functions and impairs efficiency in every direction. Varying Occasions There are some inveterate stam- merers who stammer almost every time they speak, but for the most part it 1s intermittent, and occurs only on certain occasions, which vary with the person concerned. Often we find a stammerer is perfectly all right when speaking in his home or amongst his intimate friends, but when among strangers he stammers. Sometimes the reverse happens, and he is all right except with people he knows. He can speak very much better if the person to whom he is talking is unaware that he stammers. Many people who are employed at work which they like and at which they are experts do not stammer at work, but when they get outside their office, factory or other place of employment the defect is noticeable. Others seldom stammer anywhere except at their work. Some people can speak almost perfectly on all occasions except when they have to interview their employer, foreman, manager or some other person of importance. Many have lost situations simply because as soon as they started to speak to the Manager when applying for the position they have stammered hopelessly. Some stammer only when talking to a number of people at once. They can speak almost perfectly in conversation with one person, but in a roomful of people they stammer. Others stammer principally when try- ing to speak over the telephone. A dread of having to use this instrument is very common, and varies in degree from a simple dislike to a positive phobia. Still others can speak quite well on a platform before an audience, but in private conversation they find difficulty. There is no limit to the types and varieties of stammering and the different circumstances in which the impediment shows itself. Disguising Stammerers become wonderfully clever at disguising their affliction by avoiding difficult words and re- placing them with others. Long and unhappy experience has taught them the letters and sounds on which they expect to stick and they become adepts at twisting their words and sentences about so that they do not stammer. While these subterfuges are helpful to the sufferer inasmuch as they
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