Stamering And Cognate Defects Of Speech Vol - Ii

196 SYSTEMS OF TREATING STAMMERING

" 9. It follows, also, that if the Tongue by any means for-
sakes this right high carriage-place, and habitually beds in
the bottom of the mouth, it is, thereby, disqualified for leader-
ship, being in the wrong place to take the initiative in speech;
and there is consequent confusion and a lack of that coordina-
tion of organs and voice that is exhibited and illustrated in

perfect speech.

" 10. And, therefore] it is clear to demonstration, that a
dislocated Tongue, a tongue carried low instead of high, in the
bottom of the mouth instead of in its roof-story, is the ONE
CAUSE of aU speech-defects. Yes, of them all. ...

" But whatever the phase or degree of the impediment, the
essential feature of the remedy, for one and all, is, To get the
tongue up out of the bottom of the mouth. Other things may
be needed to tone and sweeten and train the voice, but the one
essential requirement for the correction of all classes of imped-
iments is To locate the tongue aright, and to educate it to
right use from that right location. And this is but to restore
Nature. Every right born human begins life with his tongue
up, sucked up into the roof of the mouth. And, therefore,
stammerers and all other defective talkers have simply lapsed
from Nature. The first thing to be done, therefore, and the
main thing, is to take them back to Nature."

This principle " enables careful stammerers, that are not of
the ' Helpless class,' to avoid stammering, almost from the
first lesson — certainly as soon as they can perfectly say the
letters of the Alphabet, End-tongue, that is, as the tongue
begins its movement from its place on the gums. This is
something great."

" Carrying the tongue up is nature. It is what every good
talker does. It is what every natural-born child comes into
the world doing, in pure instinct. It is philosophy. It is science.
It is sense. ...