View report page

75
(d) Stuttering, found in 1 case, is due to frequent contractions
of the muscles used in forming an initial consonant,
while Stammering, found in 10 cases, results from a want
of harmonious working of the muscles. Both stammering
and stuttering are probably due more to defective formation
of the vowel sounds than to difficulty in forming consonants.
Of the first importance, then, in the treatment is the education
of proper breathing. Most of the cases occur in nervous,
excitable children, sometimes from mimicry, and many
are associated with such conditions as enlarged tonsils and
adenoids.
Most stammerers improve in ordinary school life, and
as parental training can do much to assist, a circular is
being drawn up to indicate the lines on which this may be
given.
The defect is such a serious one for the future career of
the child that a careful inquiry has been made as to its
precise incidence in Ilford schools, with the following
results:—
5-8 years.
9—12 years.
12—14 years.
Totals.
Boys.
Girls
Boys.
Girls.
Boys.
Girls.
Bad
1
1
1
—
2
—
5
Moderate
3
2
4
3
7
2
21
Slight
7
2
2
1
6
3
21
Total
47
If stammering children are placed early under special
instruction, most satisfactory results are obtained, and this
is doubtless the ideal method of treatment. It is noticeable
in the above figures that the majority of the cases are in
boys towards the close of school life.
DISEASES AND DEFECTS OF THE EYE.
.43% of children examined were suffering from
blepharitis. This is an inflammation of the eyelids, due, in