From the electrical telegraph, to the rotary dial phone, and now the cellphone, humans have always had a longing and desire to innovate and communicate. But, who would have thought that this technological advancement would be such a terror to a segment of the population?
The striking young woman is poised and confident on the stage. Her voice is strong as she describes her own stuttering in eloquent poetic language. Her stuttering is “…in breath calm and measured… stripping speech of nuance…” She addresses the trepidations of saying her own name: “I have let it sit heavy in my throat…. a tool of betrayal…” She reveals that “the stuttering is the most honest part of me…” and “…the only thing that never lies…”. To applause, she states “…when I stutter I am speaking my own language fluently…”.
For many years, I was involved in community self-organizing on behalf of people who stutter. Years ago I formed a Toronto-based self-help group for people who stutter; our first meeting was held in September 1988 at the North York Library.
We recently had someone on Twitter ask us if an app could be a replacement for a Speech Easy device. Here's what our resident Speech-Language Pathologist (and fellow stutterer) Casey Kennedy had to say.
Early on, artist Ellen Skidmore discovered painting as a way of self-expression and acceptance. As she says in the artist's statement on her website, "Because of my painting, I have been able to accept the disturbing contradictions and opposites of life itself. I have been able to accept instead of question. It has become my sanctuary."
Oliver Long, at a Demosthenes Club gathering
We continue our series of Q and A posts featuring CSA conference attendees. On this post, we meet Oliver Long, who has lived all over the world while facing discrimination due to having a severe stutter.