Stammering, Its Cause and Cure Part 12

There is no doubt that correct breathing is very vital both to the stammerer and the non-stammerer, if they are to speak fluently and well. But breath-control does not even begin to solve the problem of curing stammering. It is but an element, and a small element, in the proper articulation of words. And however well this plan of breath-control might have succeeded, it could never have succeeded in really curing stuttering and stammering.

Most of these ill-advised efforts and half-baked methods sprang up, not as a result of sound knowledge but rather as a result of the lack of it. In fact, looking back at the manner in which the stammerer was treated for stammering under these methods, we can see now that nothing but the most profound ignorance of the fundamental principles underlying the art of speaking could have made it possible for these misguided instructors to pa.s.s out as science the jargon and hodge-podge which they did try to pa.s.s off as scientific knowledge. The absurdities propounded in the name of stammering cures were too numerous even to enumerate in this volume.

SPEECH PRINCIPLES FUNDAMENTAL: Back of every spoken word, whether that word be French, English, Italian, or any other language, are the unchangeable principles of speech. These principles of speech are fundamental. They do not change basically nor do they vary in the individual. When you speak correctly, you do so as a result of following the correct principles of speech. I speak correctly by the same method as you. And when you speak incorrectly, or when you stutter or stammer, you do so because you have violated one or more of these fundamental principles. Any other person who stammers or stutters as you do, violates the same principles and requires the same method of correction as yourself. The severity of your case depends upon how many of the principles of speech you violate. A diagnosis will determine this--and therefore what is necessary to be done to bring about perfect speech. The number of speech violations to be corrected will also determine to a certain extent the time required for correction.

SPEECH DEFINED: Speech, in all the diversities of tongues and dialects, consists of but a small number of articulated elementary sounds. These are produced by the agency of the lungs, the larynx, and the mouth. The lungs supply air to the larynx, which modifies the stream into whisper or voice; and this air is then moulded by the plastic oral organs into syllables which singly or in accentual combinations const.i.tute words.

As explained in the Chapter on Causes, all of the physical organs which have to do with the production of speech and all of the brain centers whose duty it is to control the actions of these various organs, must operate in harmony, or, in other words, must coordinate, if we are to have perfect speech. Co-ordination implies perfect mental control of physical actions. And this in turn means perfect obedience of the physical organs of speech to the brain messages that are received.

The cure of stammering and stuttering requires a great deal of care based, of course, upon the correct scientific knowledge in the first place.

In attempting to cure stammering, there has been too much teaching by rigid rules and not enough teaching by principles. There are very few hard-and-fast rules that can be followed with success by every stutterer or stammerer. No set of rules can be laid down as a standard for every one to follow, for no two persons stammer exactly alike any more than two persons look exactly alike.

The only safe rule of all the rules is that which says, "Cleave closely to the principles, let the rules fall where they may." The only successful method is that which, being first based upon the right principle, is followed out with intelligence by the stammerer and administered with wisdom by the instructor to fit the needs and requirements of the individual case.

METHODS NECESSARILY THREE-FOLD: The cure of stammering and stuttering can be wrought only by a method that is three-fold-that attacks all of the un-normal conditions of the stammerer simultaneously and eradicates them in unison.

It would be of little avail, for instance, to build up perfect breath control, and leave the stammerer in a mental state where he was continually hara.s.sed by a fear of failure, by a continual self-consciousness and irritated by a deep-seated nervousness.

And it would be of just as little use to try to remove that self-consciousness, fear of failure and nervousness without removing the cause of the stammering.

In other words, when the successful method of curing stammering is spoken of as being threefold in purpose, it is meant that this method must build up the physical being, must achieve perfect mental equilibrium and must link up the physical with the mental in perfect harmony.

A permanent cure can rest on no other foundation than perfect restoration to a truly normal mental and physical condition. When this has been accomplished and when the synchronization of brain and speech organs has been brought about, the muscles of speech do not hesitate in responding to a brain message for the utterance of a word. There is no longer any sticking, any loose or hurried repet.i.tion. In other words, perfect speech now comes as a logical consequence.

SPEECH SPECIALIST SHOULD HAVE STAMMERED: It is very important that the speech expert who would promulgate a method for the eradication of stammering should have, at one time or another, stammered himself.

It is a well-known fact that the imagination cannot conjure up an image of something that has never been experienced. If you had been born blind, you would have no mental picture of any color, no matter how much you might have heard about it. Still your imagination might be a most prolific one. The utmost feat of the human imagination is to combine mental pictures to form still other images which are impossible or absurd or which in their entirety have not been experienced. In other words, new combinations of images are possible, but an entirely new or basic picture is beyond the power of the imagination to create.

So, with the specialist who would cure stuttering and stammering. It is impossible for the man who has never stammered or stuttered to know the fear that grips the sufferer when he thinks of speaking. It is impossible for one who has never stammered to imagine what this fear is like or to know the feeling that accompanies it.

For that reason, it is important that the man who attempts to eradicate speech defects should have been afflicted himself in order that his experience may have been acquired first-hand--that the suffering may have been felt and all of the conditions and situations of the stammerer may be as familiar to him as to his student.

Value of Moral Influence in the Cure of Stammering: In speaking of the necessity for good health, both physical and mental, before the eradication of stammering can take place, we must not overlook a few words about one particular type of derelict--the will-less or sometimes wilful individual who persists in indulging in dissipation of every kind, the individual who, with c.o.c.ksure att.i.tude and haughty sneer, laughs in the face of experience and insists that "it will not bother him." To such as these, no hope can be held out. Such tactics leave both body and mind in a condition that does not permit of up-building.

There is little foundation for any effort and with the pa.s.sing of each day, there is a tearing-out of bodily and mental vigor that makes all effort useless.

But in the average individual, physical rebuilding is a process of but a few weeks. The mental rehabilitation can usually be accomplished in an equally short period of time and when these things have been brought about, perfect speech soon follows if the correct methods are applied.

CHAPTER VII

THE BOGUE UNIT METHOD DESCRIBED

At the time a stammerer or stutterer first places himself under my care and before any attempt is made to apply the treatment, he is given a very thorough and searching examination for the purpose of learning the exact nature of his difficulty. It must be remembered that no two cases of stammering or stuttering are exactly alike and that no two cases require exactly the same method of treatment, although the same basic principles apply to all.

Even if the stammerer's case has been previously diagnosed by me, it is necessary to compare and verify the symptoms as previously exhibited with those existing at the time of his beginning treatment, in order to learn, first of all, whether his malady has more recently progressed into a further and more serious stage.

The Bogue Test: If the usual entrance examination does not bring out all of the essential facts regarding the case, the stammerer is then put through the Bogue Test--an original system of diagnosis which I perfected some years ago--by means of which the peculiarities of the trouble are brought out, the NORMAL, the SUBNORMAL and the ABNORMAL condition of the disorder is gauged and the most minute details of the trouble are disclosed. This Bogue Test covers the case from every possible angle. It lays bare the exact physical, mental and nervous condition of the stammerer or stutterer, enables me to determine the original cause of the trouble and to follow its progress from the first up to the present time, almost as easily as if the student had been under my observation ever since he first noticed his defect of speech.

I recall the case of a boy who came to me at one time for a personal diagnosis of his case. I examined him carefully, put him through a number of tests and diagnosed his case, which proved to be in the second stage and of no more than ordinary severity. He was unable to place himself under my care at that tune but returned to me about eight months later, apparently in no worse condition than before. Not being satisfied with the results of the examination, the complete test was applied, with the result that a condition of grave seriousness was discovered, marking the most p.r.o.nounced form of his trouble--a form so far advanced as to make the case almost incurable. The situation was explained to the young man and he was told that it would take much longer than usual to bring about a cure in his case, although such a cure was yet possible. He expressed his willingness to spend as much time as was necessary in the cure and as a result, he was able within some weeks' time to talk without stuttering or stammering. The mental sluggishness which marked his conversation soon disappeared. He became alert and eager and when he left for home, he was a much different boy than when he came for treatment.

This is but one of hundreds of examples showing the need for expert diagnosis and for careful a.n.a.lysis of the condition of the stammerer even if a previous diagnosis has been made within a few months.

In practically all cases of stammering, particularly those of a progressive character, the condition is naturally changeable and common prudence calls for caution in accepting antedated facts as an indication of the present condition.

In every case, the examination enables me to gauge the severity of the case so accurately that the student's course can be outlined, designating the exact Plan-of-Attack to be used in:

1--Tearing out the improper methods of speech production 2--Replacing those incorrect methods with the correct natural methods 3--Re-establishing normal co-ordination between the brain and the muscles of speech.

The Method at Work: When the preliminary Examination and Tests have been completed and the student's course outlined, the actual working of the Bogue Unit Method then begins. This does not involve the practice of any "ism" or "ology," nor does it require the use of medicines, drugs, surgery, hypnotism or the "laying-on-of-hands," but by scientific and natural methods, begins the first step of the work, viz.: Tearing out the improper methods of speech production.

At every step in the application of the method, the principles which underlie and govern perfect articulation, serve as the foundation of the instruction. As has been so often stated in this book, these principles of speech never change. They apply to all persons alike, and all who talk normally apply these principles in the same manner. Those who stammer violate them, so that in correcting defective speech it is only logical that we should first remove the defective procedure and then inst.i.tute the correct procedure in its place.

The Bogue Unit Method is three-fold in action. From this it takes the name "Unit Method." The first Unit of Treatment has for its purpose the building up of physical efficiency. "The first requisite is to be a good animal," says Herbert Spencer. This is certainly true of the stammerer, for in his case, normal health is a valuable aid during the time of treatment. Consequently, the first step is to build up the physical organs and be sure that these are functioning properly.

The second Unit of Treatment restores the mental equilibrium, stabilizes the mental activities and places them under perfect control.

The inability of the mind to control the organs of speech has led to a condition which might be described as a "flabbiness of the mental muscles" which necessitates that the mental condition be altered and improved so that the mind can once more possess the capacity for properly controlling the organs of speech.

The third Unit of Treatment synchronizes and harmonizes mental and physical actions and re-establishes normal co-ordination between the brain and the muscles of speech, which completes the work necessary to bring about a cure. After both physical and mental conditions have been made normal, it merely remains to link up these two properly-working forces, co-ordinate their activities and firmly inhabitate the correct principles of control, after which it can be said that a complete cure is permanently effected.

Daily Record of Progress: Beginning with the first day, a complete report in writing is made of the progress. Each point on which the student makes progress is noted. If proper advancement is not made on any particular point, special effort is put forth to bring that point up to the standard which has been set. This makes it possible for the instructor to give individual attention to each student, something which is absolutely essential in many cases. In other words, it will not do to start the student off and let him work out his own salvation.

The instructor must be constantly at hand, giving advice, correcting faulty articulation and constantly aiding the stammerer in a hundred ways to route the malady.

After having been under treatment for seven days, the student is subjected to his first treatment test. After pa.s.sing this examination satisfactorily, the student is a.s.signed additional work from another angle. Some students require as much as ten days to complete the work necessary to pa.s.s this first test--in fact, it might also be said that this test will determine the speed with which the student is to progress. From this time until the completion of the course, additional tests are given at various intervals, according to the needs of the case, until the Final Cure Test proves that the malady has been eradicated.

Conscious of the Improvement: The stammerer is profoundly conscious of a distinct change for the better by the end of the very first day under treatment. In other words, there is an immediate and noticeable improvement, not only in his nervous condition, but also in his physical and mental state as well.

Before the student pa.s.ses from under the treatment, he is thoroughly aware of the benefits which the work has brought about. For, after he has met every progress test and has been examined on every phase and every principle of speech, he pa.s.ses to a rigid Final Test. In this test, more than ever before, he finds the results of his efforts. He discovers that he can use his speech in any way that he desires--in any way that it will be necessary for him to use it in his future life. He finds himself able to produce any sound--l.a.b.i.al, dental, lingual, nasal or palatal or any combination of these sounds in any language. He finds every word now is an easy word, articulation is under perfect control and the formation of voice a process involving no apparent mental effort or physical contortions.

A young woman of 20 years was placed under my care by her mother. She stammered very badly and at the time when her condition was at its worst, found it almost impossible to make herself understood by any means. After five weeks of careful instruction, this young woman had no difficulty whatever in speaking, there was no "piling up of thoughts,"

as she expressed her former condition, and her articulation was excellent. A few days after she returned home, she wrote as follows: "I have been talking ever since I came home and have had no trouble whatever. I just love to talk and I believe I have said more in the last five days than in the whole last five years."

Additional Results: The Bogue Unit Method of Cure when earnestly followed out by the student, does much more than eradicate the impediment of speech. It increases the weight of the below-the-average student, stops all spasmodic or convulsive efforts of face, arms and limbs and increases by several inches what was formerly a flat and poorly developed chest.

A very bad case who came to me for treatment several years ago was a young man of 26. He not only stuttered but stammered very badly. He placed himself under my guidance for a period of a little more than six weeks. At the end of that time he found no difficulty in talking nor were there any spasmodic movements of the facial muscles, as before. In reporting some time later, he said:

"When I left I tipped the scales at 20 pounds heavier than when I went to you. My folks are certainly pleased to hear me talk without the straining and strangling exertion I had before in trying to force my words out. Now they flow out nice and easy."

Many children, both boys and girls, are under developed. This may have resulted from several causes, but it is frequently traceable to the stammering or stuttering as an indirect cause. The Bogue Unit Method takes these children in a poor physical condition and while eradicating the defect of speech, brings about a healthy physical development. An Ohio woman reported excellent results in a letter which said:

"I am glad to inform you that my son Allan since taking the treatment in June last, has not to my knowledge, stammered once, for which we are all very grateful to the Bogue Method. I also wish to say that his physical condition is much improved and he has increased in weight about ten pounds."

Regardless of the age of the student, there is an increased vitality flowing through the entire body, the powers of endurance are greatly increased and the health built up from every stand-point. One man sent in an enthusiastic report in these words:

"I am fine and healthy; the people down here say I don't look like the same person. I gained 17 pounds while I was out there. I am talking fine. My mother says I talk them nearly to death. I talk them all to bed at night, so they put out the light on me so I will go to bed and hush. I went down town Sat.u.r.day night and the boys were sure glad to hear me talk without stammering."