Stamering And Cognate Defects Of Speech Vol - Ii

210 SYSTEMS OF TREATING STAMMERING

implied. There are different kinds of slowness. One person
goes slowly because some one in front of him blocks the way.
Another goes slowly because he is too relaxed and too much at
ease to care about going faster. This second kind of slowness,
slowness induced by physical relaxation and well-being, must
become the second nature of the patient. (Slowly, and with
absolute repose, he raises his hand to lift his hat. Quietly,
and with restful movements, he continues his walk, etc.)
And why is this restfulness and relaxation so essential? Be-
cause slowness and ease of movements, especially of move-
ments of the right extremities, permits only weak innervations
to reach the motor nerves of the brain — and especially of the
left hemisphere of the brain, in which the speech-centre lies.
As a consequence it permits the gradual recovery of the in-
jured nerves. These slow movements, since they entail only
the weakest innervations, prevent all irradiation upon the
contiguous speech-nerves. One can, of course, move the
limbs as much as he pleases, but each movement — especially
of the right arm and leg — must be slowly and restfully exe-
cuted. Ultimately the speech-organs become influenced by this
mode of activity, which itself becomes more and more habitual.
"The speech-nerves themselves must be guarded from all
excessive impulse. One should speak only in the most noncha-
lant tone, and endeavor, whilst speaking, to maintain the highest
degree of well-being [Vottbehagen, Urbehagen] and relaxation.
Let the stammerer preserve his physical and mental ease, and
have no scruples about separating words and phrases that are
ordinarily connected. Let him adopt the manner of a speaker
that pronounces his words as they occur to him — with utter
disregard for rhetorical effect. The recital or the question then
assumes the character of the involuntary, the unstudied, the
abrupt. The ease and well-being of the moment alone de-
termines the pauses, the lengthening of the vowels, the inflec-