speech, suppose this same child hears the word "Dot"
spoken in his presence. He will, in all probability, begin to repeat
the word, and to search diligently for his pet dog. Thus it will be
seen that in this case the sound of the dog's name has stirred up a
train of mental images, one of these being a visual image of the dog
himself, causing the child to look about in search for him.

HOW WE LEARN TO TALK: We learn to talk, therefore, purely by
observation and imitation. Observation is here used in a broad sense
and means not only SEEING but SENSING, such as sensing by smelling,
touching or tasting. The child imitates the sounds he hears and if
these sounds emanate from those afflicted with defective utterance,
then it follows that the initial utterance of the child will be
likewise defective.

SOURCE OF THE FIRST WORD: The first spoken word of the child usually
finds its source in some name or word repeatedly spoken in the child's
presence. It is not usual that this first word is marked by a defective
utterance and if such should be the case, then it is safe to say that
this faulty utterance can be traced back to the imitation of some
member of the family, or some child who has been permitted to talk to
the child in his pre-speaking period. There is little to be gained by
tracing the first word back, for no very profound conclusion can safely
be registered with such a basis, for no matter what the word be and no
matter whether it be correctly or imperfectly enunciated, it is the
result of imitation.

There may be two exceptions to this, however, one being the case of a
child with a physical defect in the organs of speech and the other that
of a child who has inherited from the parents a predisposition to
stammer or stutter. These exceptions, however, are so rare as to hardly
require consideration. In the first (that of a physical defect) it is
hardly probable that an organic defect would manifest itself in the
form of stuttering or stammering, but rather in some other form of
defective utterance. In the case of the inherited predisposition to
stutter or stammer, there is always the question which has contributed
more largely to the defective utterance--the inherited predisposition
or the association with others who speak in a faulty manner.

ADVICE TO PARENTS: It is very essential that from the very beginning of
the period of the recording of suggestion, the child is shown the
correct and customary utterance with