Speech Disorder in Nineteenth Century Britain

Originally published in 1980, this comprehensive study of stuttering in Britain in the nineteenth century was the first detailed examination of one speech problem as manifested in a particular time and place. It examines the problems posed by stuttering and illustrates how it became the linguistic handicap most responsible for laying the roots of professional speech therapy. The impediment was seen as a challenge to the physician in that the cure was tantalisingly elusive and the cause highly problematic. From these first attempts at treatment the profession of speech therapy developed. Many of the nineteenth century therapists were themselves stutterers who conquered their own impediment. As systematic management of speech defects emerged it matched the development of both humane mental health services and special education. It also demonstrated the community’s response to disabled people which took the form of private philanthropy on the one hand and government legislation on the other.