We recently got this message from a woman in Europe asking for advice on how she can support her friend who stutters. We figured that the best advice would come from people who stutter, so we’re passing it along.
i have a very good friend who has a mild stuttering. He is a great man, he is looking good but i hate that he doesn’t has any selfconfidence. He’s everyday is about hiding his stuttering. He is running away from situations where he has to speak with unknown people, he is running away from talking on the phone, he is running away from himself, even his stuttering isn’t sever at all, in normal situations he is speaking fluently, he hasn’t any blocks, only when he is really nervouse, than he could have even a 10 sec. block.
i would like to make him accept himself, but i don’t have any succes:( … we aren’t speaking about his stuttering at all. i just simply hate, when he is staying with the phone in his hand, and finally running away from making a call, or when he likes a girl, but he doesn’t makes the first step to her….
can u give me some advice?
What is your advice for this woman concerning her friend who stutters?
We believe that stuttering doesn’t have to hold anyone back from achieving success. In one case, stuttering actually ushered one (reluctant) interviewee into deity status! With tongue firmly planted in cheek, here is a brief review of the story of Raj Patel, an academic, activist, and author of New York Times best-seller The Value of Nothing.
According to this NYT article, on Jan. 14, a religious sect called Share International announced the arrival of a deity named Maitreya, who is to be a leader for all faiths around the world (who some say is the second coming of Buddha). Maitreya was not identified, but these clues to pinpoint him revealed that he would:
have been born in 1972
have traveled from India to London in 1977
be dark-skinned
speak with a stutter
Patel was in the public spotlight in January during his book tour for The Value of Nothing. He also happened to meet criteria 1–3. Then, during an interview on the popular Comedy Central show The Colbert Report, he stuttered. Share International had found their Maitreya.
Patel refused the notion that he is a spiritual leader, but that has only encouraged followers since they believe that Maitreya will deny his divinity. It looks like Patel is stuck being a teacher of all faiths of the world for now, and he has a moment of stuttering to thank for it.
Here is Stephen Colbert, in his usual sardonic character that holds nothing sacred, reporting on his role in Patel’s case of mistaken iden-deity. Sadly, this is also a strong example of how stuttering is still viewed as less of a disorder and more of a punchline.
When one is working on their stuttering for 7 hours a day during an intensive program, lunchtime becomes very important and much appreciated. So, we want to give you a preview of the culinary options in the AIS neighborhood. Bon appétit!
In May 2009, the National Stuttering Association (NSA) conducted a survey to gather information about stuttering. They received responses from 1,235 people, including 686 adults and 31 teens who stutter.
The survey showed some very positive things including:
Changing one’s attitude toward speaking and stuttering was the most successful therapy approach for both children and adults.
One third of the adult and teen respondents had had therapy from a Board-Recognized Specialist in Fluency Disorders (BRS-FD). Those who worked with a specialist were more likely to have had a successful therapy experience and were more likely to have attended a stuttering support group.
In general, parents reported more successful speech therapy from university speech clinics, private-practice clinicians and intensive programs than from school speech therapy.
Children who work with a BRS-FD also are significantly less likely to avoid speaking situations, significantly less likely to find that stuttering interferes with social and family life, significantly less likely to be embarrassed about stuttering, and are more likely to have had a successful therapy experience.
The survey collected some great information that can help you when making decisions about stuttering therapy. You can download the full report from the NSA.
Thanks to the NSA for their diligent work in supporting and learning about people who stutter!
An interesting discussion is taking place in the comments of our May 2009 post “A great research article on the SpeechEasy.” We’d like to bring this exchange to the forefront rather than have it remain virtually buried in last May’s archives. The post featured a short video of Chamonix introducing a research article by then-AIS intern, now PhD (congratulations!), Ryan Pollard on the SpeechEasy, an altered auditory feedback device that was developed to reduce stuttering.
Dr. Joseph Kalinowski, a professor at East Carolina University and co-inventor of the SpeechEasy, commented earlier this month on that post. Here is his comment:
I “graduated” from CRC – the center Cathy ran in 1981 and that was a life changing experience. Her work, dedication and all she does for those who stutter are remarkable gifts to all of us who stutter. I personally will never be able to repay her for her efforts in my life but my colleagues and I have, in some small way paid it forward to others who stutter. Our work with the Speech Easy and altered auditory feedback (AAF) is more of a tribute than a challenge to all those who work so hard in the behavioral/cognitive modality. (more…)
Thank you to Craig for taking the time to share his experiences with cluttering.
Cluttering is defined as “a fluency disorder characterized by a rate that is perceived to be abnormally rapid, irregular or both for the speaker (although measured syllable rates may not exceed normal limits). These rate abnormalities further are manifest in one or more of the following symptoms: an excessive number of dysfluencies, the majority of which are not typical of people who stutter; the frequent placement of pauses and use of prosodic patterns that do not conform to syntactic and semantic constraints; and inappropriate (usually excessive) degrees of coarticulation among sounds, especially in multisyllabic words.” [1] (more…)
Chamonix explains the latest news in our field, the discovery of a genetic link to stuttering.
For more information, read this CNN article and the original article in the New England Journal of Medicine. And as Chamonix said, check back here for our reactions to this announcement and what it might mean for people who stutter and their families.
We recently got this message from a woman in Europe asking for advice on how she can support her friend who stutters. We figured that the best advice would come from people who stutter, so we’re passing it along.
We believe that stuttering doesn’t have to hold anyone back from achieving success. In one case, stuttering actually ushered one (reluctant) interviewee into deity status! With tongue firmly planted in cheek, here is a brief review of the story of Raj Patel, an academic, activist, and author of New York Times best-seller The Value of Nothing.
