Stammering, Its Cause and Cure by Benjamin Nathaniel Bogue (recommended reading .TXT) đź“–
- Author: Benjamin Nathaniel Bogue
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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 constitute 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. Coordination 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 THREEFOLD: The cure of stammering and stuttering can be wrought only by a method that is threefold-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 harassed 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 repetition. 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 cocksure attitude 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 passing 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.
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 pronounced 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 analysis 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 coordination 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 institute the correct procedure in its place.
The Bogue Unit Method is threefold 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.
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