It amazes me how, in this day and age, the way we articulate our words alters people’s perceptions of us. I am amazed at people’s ignorance when it comes to how I say words. Amazed that I can be treated so differently because it takes me longer to say a word or a sentence. Amazed that there is still such a stigma associated with stuttering.
One of our readers has submitted the following essay for publication. Do you want to tell your story about stuttering? Let us know!
Living with a stutter has been an incredible challenge throughout my life. At first, I was very angry and discouraged that I couldn’t communicate like most people. In school, other kids teased me and call me names, and that played a factor in my self esteem and dignity. Luckily for me, I was talented in many other avenues, such as soccer, hockey and drawing, and that made me feel better about myself. But I have always had this one impediment that lingered in the background …. my stutter.
When Daniele Rossi first started an on-line podcast in 2006, he meticulously edited out his stuttering, and did multiple takes of every show in order to give listeners at least the impression of stutter-free speech. It occurred to him one day that maybe it didn’t have to be that way. He began searching the web for groups and forums aimed at supporting and inspiring people who stutter.
A review of the paper: The Effectiveness of intensive, group therapy for teenagers who stutter by Jane Fry, Sharon Millard and Willie Botterill, of the The Michael Palin Centre for Stammering, London, UK published in the International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders, Jan - Feb 2014, VOL. 49, NO. 1, 113–126
The teen years are critical for development of personality and a sense of self for an individual, and lays a foundation for that young person’s adult life. It is also a time of increased self-consciousness, self evaluation, and social identity. It is well known that teens who stutter are more prone to social anxiety, and it can be a challenge to provide treatment for them at this critical juncture in their lives.
If there is one thing I can say I have learned, it is the joy of being a single father of a child with special needs. This is a joy that can be so intense that laughing is not merely enough to celebrate it. I have learned to cry tears of joy, and to smile during the toughest of times with my child. No matter how small the accomplishment might be, it deserves to be celebrated. For when we look back it will be those little hurdles that our children overcome that will carry the biggest reward. Each hurdle is a little miracle in itself.
In his latest book, David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits and the Art of Battling Giants, the well-known Canadian journalist Malcolm Gladwell unveils some biased beliefs commonly held about how people achieve success in life. Everyone is familiar with the titular biblical story: a young shepherd boy with a slingshot slays a mighty, heavily armed warrior. But for Gladwell, the outcome of the battle is really not that extraordinary when one looks at the circumstances behind the famous face-off.