ities for the
stammering or stuttering child to outgrow his trouble are about five
times as great in the Formative Period, between the ages of 2 and 6, as
they are in the Speech-Setting Period, from 6 to 11. In the former, as
previously explained, statistics show that about 1 per cent.--or one in
a hundred--outgrow their trouble before the age of 6, while after this
age the percentage drops to one-fifth of one per cent, or about one
person in every five hundred, which is a very small chance indeed.

In speaking of the tendency of parents to wait in the hope that speech
disorders will be outgrown, Walter B. Swift, A.B., S.B., M.D., has this
to say:

"This suggestion may frequently be offered, even by the physician. Many
people say, 'Let the case alone and it will outgrow its defect.' No
treatment could be more foolish than this. No advice could be more
ill-advised; no suggestion could show more ignorance of the problems of
speech. Such advisers are ignorant of the harm they are doing and the
amount of mental drill of which they are depriving the pupil. Nor do
they know at all whether or not the case will ever 'outgrow' its
defect. In brief, this advice is without foundation, without scientific
backing, and should never be followed."

ADVICE TO PARENTS: Parents of children between the ages of 6 and 11 who
stammer or stutter, should follow out the suggestions given in the
previous chapter, with the idea of removing the difficulty in its
incipiency if possible, or at least of preventing its progress. If by
the time the child is eight years of age, the defective utterance
remains, this fact is proof that the speech disorder is of a form that
will not yield to the simple methods possible under parental treatment
at home and the child should be immediately placed under the care of an
expert whose previous knowledge and experience insures his ability to
correct the defective utterance quickly and permanently.

In all cases after the age of 8, the matter should be taken firmly in
hand. There should be no dilly-dallying, no foolish belief in the
possibility of outgrowing the trouble, for whatever chances once
existed are now past. First of all, the child's case should be
diagnosed by an expert with the idea of ascertaining the exact nature
of the speech disorder, the probable progress of the trouble, the
present condition, the curability of the case and the possibilities for
early relief. A personal diagnosis should be secure