Stamering And Cognate Defects Of Speech Vol - Ii

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STAMMERING-SCHOOLS" 283

And now we have to consider testimonials that
categorically certify a cure. Among these testi-
monials we may immediately reject all that are
written directly after the pupil leaves the institution.
At this time the pupil's imagery may be good, his
confidence high, and his physical stammering nil. He
is then ready to testify that he is completely cured, and
that Professor Cheetem's stammering-school is the best
in the world. But his cure may be brief, his world may
be small, and his testimonial may be worthless.

Among testimonials written later, there is also a
dass to be discounted. Many ex-pupils that "have
not stammered for a year " may be beating time in the
hope of ultimately attaining fluency. How large a
proportion of "cured" stammerers still "follow in-
structions'' it is quite impossible to say, but most of
the "cures" that the writer has encountered, have
been distinctly peculiar. On the same subject, dif-
ferent people have different conceptions.

And now we come to cures that are unmistakably
gentpbae. Some of these are to be found in every
institution. This circumstance is not surprising when
one regards the fact that there are approximately three
times as many stammering children as stammering
adults. Late in childhood or during adolescence many
stammerers gradually lose the impediment. This
may occur either inside or outside of a stammering-
school ; but when it occurs within the institution, the