Offer of Packard to Give Aid to Stammerers Attracts Only For Prospective Declaimers

Frederick Clifton Packard, Jr. '20, Assistant Professor of Public Speaking, revealed yesterday that he was "surprised to learn that there were only four persons in the University who stuttered and who wished to conquer that difficulty."

Professor Packard, who has announced a willingness to "meet informally all students in the University who have any trouble in ease of utterance," also said that he was sure there were many more than four who might avail themselves of this opportunity.

When it was suggested that many might not respond because of being too conscious of their affliction, he pointed out that there was to be no regular class, and he would treat with each man individually and informally.

He went on to say that "stammering has been proven to be a disaffection which can be overcome with nothing but a lot of determination and practice, and contrary to the general impression, it is not the result of any physical, emotional, or nervous disability.

What Professor Packard intends to do is build up in sufferers a confidence in their ability to conquer this difficulty and then let them do the actual work and practice themselves. This can often be done by finding a circumstance under which a person who ordinarily stutters is free from this impediment, and then building up from that.

This very process was used successfully by Professor Packard several years ago when Frederic W. Ilfeld '28, came to him as a Freshman and "could not even tell him his name." It was soon brought out that Ilfeld never stuttered when he was alone, so starting from there he practiced hard every day alone, then gradually began to speak in larger and larger groups, took a public speaking course, and received an "A," and finally became a lecturer at the Medical School. This was the result of three years of daily practice, however, showing that although possible, to task is by no means easy.

Other students have presented themselves as Freshmen with a serious handicap in their speech, and by using this or some other system, have managed to cure themselves completely before graduation. For example, one man found that it speaking he stuttered badly, but could sing with no difficulty whatsoever.

The Harvard Psychology Department has conducted investigations and found that the belief that a naturally left-handed person stutters when forced to use his right hand is often true. Furthermore, people who are encouraged to stammer as children because it seems amusing will soon find themselves burdened with the affliction for life.

Hypnosis a Cure

The Psychology experts have also developed two very interesting means of curing this disability, the first consisting in throwing the sufferer into a post-hypnotic trance and then impressing upon his subconscious mind the correct way to speak. Another method developed is to take the subconscious mind of the stammerer off his trouble by pricking him in the hand with a pin every time he falters.

However, it has been found that no two cases are ever alike and for none has a definite scientific cure been developed. All research tends to show that stuttering is merely a bad habit, and like all bad habits can be overcome by supplanting it with a good one. Stammering is usually pretty deeply embedded and requires much hard work and will power to conquer, but it is possible and that is why anyone desiring to overcome this handicap should consult Professor Packard as to the best way of going about it