The Ypsilanti daily press. (Ypsilanti, Mich.) 1928-1962, 1944-09-27

great deal of confusion arises in
human thinking with those who
get the word and the thing mex
tricably intertwined.
There is a great deal TO be said
for the behaviorist theory Of psy-
chology that consciousness or
thinking is no more than talking
to ourselves. Most of our ordinary
familiar life is a mere unwinding
of vocal habits"
Certainly much Of mans sue
cess depends on the use of words.
Considering that, it is surprising
that the medical profession has
exhibited so little interest in the
way people use words. There are
a few Language Clinics attached
to hospitals or medical schools in
North America, but not nearly
enough. Every Board of Education
should have one, especially for
scholars just beginning in the pri-
mary grades.
OauScB OF backWaruneSS
In the established Language
Clinics it is common thing at this
time of year for mothers to bring
in children four and five years of
age and say-"Johnnie doesn't
talk yet, but he'll have to learn in
a week or two because now he's
going to school," Or the child may
have been rejected from school be-
cause his speech was not under
standable. Often parents worry in
good time before the beginning of
school, and bring the child who is
backward in language, being ap-
prehensive about the child's intel
ligence, for intelligence and abil-
ity in wording are synonymous to
many. This, however, is not true.
In the group of children who are
poor takers or late takers, there
are some of poor intelligence, but
comparatively few. Such case is
that of a boy of seven, rejected
from the first grade because he
could not be understood, and could
not fit into the group situation at
school. He used many words that
only his mother could understand.
A careful test by non-linguistic
methods showed that his mental
age was far below his chronology
cal age: in fact he was only little
more than three years old. Such
cases are, however, in the minor
ity and many children with low in
telligence speak very we'll.
One group of late and poor talk
ers consists of children who have
defective hearing. They have been
a puzzle to their parents because
they hear some sounds, and the
fact that they are partially deaf
has never been considered. They
like to listen to the radio which is
pitched so they can hear it. Care
full tests show the real defect
Word Deaf Children
Another and smaller group are
those who are "word deaf" They
hear sounds but cannot associate
meanings with words. They are
good mechanics and understand
machines.
The largest group Of children
found in these language clinics are
those classified as having motor
speech delay. They have no physi-
cal or mental defects. Their intel
ligence is average or better and
they hear and see we'll but their
speech is backward. have had one
personal experience with such a
child and since my experience has
now extended to 30 years and the
child is now a brilliant executive
and temporarily an efficient Off
Ger in the army my idea would be
that those cases finally adjust.
Some of the poor takers suffer
from misuse Of the voice, due to
some experience along the line of
development. For instance, it may
follow tonsil removal when the
child subconsciously splints his
soft palate. In the same category
are those who have not been
trained after a cleft palate opera
tion and those who talk poorly be-
cause of poor alignment Of teeth.