I found this tome called the Handbook of Speech Pathology And Audiology. I started reading some of the chapters on stuttering.
In the chapter entitled "Symptomatic Therapy for Stuttering" by Charles Van Riper, there is a section on former treatments of stuttering.
Some of them are the tragic ones, (surgical alteration of the tongue so that excess tension causes physical pain).
One that made me literally laugh out loud:
"We are also reminded of the British physician who prescribed croton oil, a profound cathartic [e.g., it causes diarrhea in very small doses]. Stutterers who took their croton oil did not dare to struggle when they talked lest they fill their robes. If they stuttered, they would have to stutter easily and without pressing " (VanRiper, 1971, pp. 996).
I literally laughed out loud.
The stuttering treatment has come very far. We no longer surgically alter tongue, burn tongues with spices, speak with pebbles in our mouths, or take medication to cause diarrhea. There is still much work to be done, but we can marvel how far we've come.
In the chapter entitled "Symptomatic Therapy for Stuttering" by Charles Van Riper, there is a section on former treatments of stuttering.
Some of them are the tragic ones, (surgical alteration of the tongue so that excess tension causes physical pain).
One that made me literally laugh out loud:
"We are also reminded of the British physician who prescribed croton oil, a profound cathartic [e.g., it causes diarrhea in very small doses]. Stutterers who took their croton oil did not dare to struggle when they talked lest they fill their robes. If they stuttered, they would have to stutter easily and without pressing " (VanRiper, 1971, pp. 996).
I literally laughed out loud.
The stuttering treatment has come very far. We no longer surgically alter tongue, burn tongues with spices, speak with pebbles in our mouths, or take medication to cause diarrhea. There is still much work to be done, but we can marvel how far we've come.
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