DEFECTIVE SPEECH IN CHILDREN
(2) THE FORMATIVE PERIOD
The period in a child's speech development dating from the second year
and up to the sixth, is called the Formative Period, for the reason
that this is the time when the child is busy learning new words,
acquiring new habits of speech, co-ordinating and learning properly to
associate the flood of ideas which overwhelm the child-mind in this
period.
The child-vocabulary at this time is but an echo of the vocabulary of
the home. The words that have been used most frequently there are most
strongly impressed upon the child-mind. The names he has heard, the
objects he has seen, the applications of speech-ideas--these alone are
now in his mind. This condition is inevitable since the child must
learn to speak by imitation--and, since he has had no source of
word--pictures other than the home, he must have acquired facility in
the use of only those words he has had an opportunity to hear.
Former President Wilson, whose faultless diction, remarkable fluency of
expression and discriminating choice of words, made him a master
speaker and writer, attributed his facility to the training he received
in the home of his father, a minister, where the children were
constantly encouraged in the use of correct English and in the
broadening and enrichment of their store of words.
From the form of simple child-speech, made up often of monosyllables or
of a few brief and easy sentences, the child must now evolve a more
complicated form of thought-expression, with the use of connectives,
descriptions and a finer gradation of color than heretofore.
This process may be materially aided by the parent by the repetition of
the child's own utterances, proving to the child that these are
correct, that he is being understood and giving him confidence to
venture further out in his attempts at speech amplification. This
encouragement of the child-mind in its attempts to speak is so
important that it is worth while to give some simple examples of what
is meant, in order that the point may be clearly understood. Let us
take, first, the example of a mother who, from some cause, allows
herself to be of a nervous and irritable disposition. The small child
may say, "Mam--ma, I want a tooky." The mother, either through
indifference or through habit, says, "You want WHAT?" This, first of
all, is like a dash of cold water to the child in his uncertain state
of mind as to the correctness of his utterance. The child repeats, "I
want a tooky," and in all probability gets the further inquiry, "You
want a TOOKY--what's that?" which undermines the child's confidence in
himself and in his ability to talk.
On the other hand, the mother who understands the needs of the child
from a speech-forming standpoint will not insist on the child repeating
the word time after time as if it was not understood. She will strive
hard to understand the first time, even though the expression is
imperfect and difficult of interpretation, and her nimble mind having
figured out what it is that the child desires, will say, "Baby wants a
cooky?" Here the child, in his comparatively new occupation of talking,
finds a deal of delight in knowing that his words have been properly
comprehended and feels a new confidence in his ability to express
thoughts--which confidence, by the way, is essential to normal speech
development in the child. It has the further effect of correcting the
tendency of faulty utterance, and in time will result in the complete
eradication of the natural tendency to "baby-talk" which is too often
encouraged and aided by the habit of parents in REPEATING THE
BABY-TALK. In no case, should defective utterances be repeated, no
matter how "cute" the utterance may seem at the time. Many speak
indistinctly throughout their entire life simply because of the habit
of their parents in repeating baby-talk, thus confirming incorrect
images of numerous words.
SPEECH DISORDERS IN THE FORMATIVE PERIOD: The Formative Period may mark
the beginning of a speech disorder and in many instances chronic cases
of stuttering and stammering may be traced to a simple disorder which
first manifested itself in the ages between 2 and 6.
Speech disorders arising in this period may be traced to any one of a
number of causes. In a child of five, for instance, the diagnostician
would look for evidences of an inherited tendency to stammer or
stutter; he would look also for circumstances which would show that the
child had acquired defective utterance through mimicry of others
similarly afflicted or through the unconscious imitation of the
defective speech of those immediately about him.
Failing to find any hereditary tendency to a speech defect or any
evidence that the disorder had been acquired by imitation or mimicry,
the next step would be to determine whether or not the trouble had been
caused by disease or injury.
As explained in Chapter III, the diseases of childhood, such as
Whooping Cough, Scarlet Fever, Diphtheria, Acute Chorea, Infantile
Cerebral Palsy and Infantile Paralysis are frequently the cause of
stuttering or stammering, and a history showing a record of these
diseases would result in a very careful examination for the purpose of
determining if they had resulted in a form of defective utterance.
ADVICE TO PARENTS: But whatever the cause of the trouble, care should
be taken to see that it grows no worse and every attempt should be made
to eradicate it at this early stage. Like a fire, speech disorders in
their early stages are insignificant compared to their future progress
and can be much more readily eradicated then than later. Inasmuch as a
child of less than eight years is hardly old enough to undertake
institutional treatment successfully, it behooves the parent of the
stammering or stuttering child to render what home assistance is
possible, during this period. The old adage, tried and true, that "An
ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" is never more correctly
applied than here. A few simple suggestions may aid in preventing the
trouble from progressing rapidly to a serious stage, even though these
suggestions do not eradicate the disorder altogether.
First of all, the child should be kept in the very best possible
physical condition. This means, too, plenty of fresh air and sunshine,
without which any child is less than physically fit.
It is important that the child be not allowed to associate with others
who stammer or stutter, or who have any form of speech disorder.
Imitation or mimicry, as heretofore stated, is the most prolific cause
of speech trouble and to place a child who stammers or stutters in the
company of an older person similarly afflicted, is to invite a serious
form of the disorder.
Nervousness, while not the cause of speech disorder, is an aggravant of
the trouble and should be avoided. The child should not be allowed to
engage in anything which has a tendency to make him nervous or highly
excited. Such a condition will aggravate the speech trouble, make it
worse and tend to fix it more firmly in the child.
Furthermore, parents should not scold or berate the child because he
stammers or stutters. No child stammers or stutters because he wants
to, but because he has not the power to control his speech organs. In
other words, the child cannot help himself--and scolding and harsh
words simply cause confusion and dejection which in turn react to make
a more serious condition.
THE CHANCES FOR OUTGROWING: The author's examination and diagnosis of
more than 20,000 cases of speech disorders has revealed the fact that
at this period in the life of the child afflicted with stammering or
stuttering, slightly less than 1 percent. outgrow the difficulty. With
proper parental care it might be possible to increase this percentage,
perhaps double it, but this should hardly be called "outgrowing." In
the mind of the average person, the expression "outgrowing his
stammering" means that the stammerer has been able to go ahead without
giving the slightest heed to his trouble and that it has, by some
magical process, ceased to exist. This is a fallacy. Stammering and
stuttering are both destructive and progressive and no amount of
indifference will result in relief--but on the other hand, will
terminate in a more malignant type of the disorder. It IS true,
however, that more care on the part of the parent in looking after the
formation of speech habits in the Pre-Speaking and Formative Periods of
the child's speech development, would result in fewer cases of chronic
stammering and stuttering in later life.