Modern Mechanix has reproduced an article on a scientific cure for stammering from the July, 1940 ish of Popular Science. It appears that the science of curing stameric 67 years ago involved being strapped to scary torture chairs.
Brain waves, the faint electrical impulses that reveal a person's nervous make-up, are being studied as a possible help in diagnosing cases of stammering. In recording them, a subject lies relaxed within a room inclosed by copper screens to shield the ultrasensitive electrical instruments from outside influences. As many as ten electrodes, with wires leading to recording apparatus, are attached to his scalp. Then an amplifier magnifies the brain currents, so that they may be recorded in a wavy line on an endless tape. A normal person gives a pattern resembling a fairly regular row of saw teeth. In the extreme case of a brain tumor, the line wavers aimlessly all over the chart. Experimenters hope to find intermediate sorts of brain waves, characteristic of various classes of stammerers, and thus link impaired speech with other types of nervous disorders. Manipulating facial muscles, a new treatment developed by Mrs. Edna Hill Young and elaborated upon by Dr. Travis, helps overcome severe stammering. Even backward children unable to utter a word have been taught to speak. With deft fingers, the "trainer" shapes the subject's lips so that nothing but the correct sound can possibly come out. Thus a patient, who previously could be trained only by visual and hearing aids, now experiences the exact "feel" of pronouncing a syllable. So successful has the method proved that the Rockefeller Foundation has financed large-scale training of operators for clinics.
