ShareThisSacramento Bee
Friday, August 17, 2007
FACTS ABOUT STUTTERING
The biggest hurdle stutterers face is a general lack of knowledge about the speech disorder. A few things you should know:
-- No one is exactly sure what causes a stutter, but it's thought to be a combination of genetics (60 percent of stutters have a family member who stutters), early childhood environment and stutterers processing language in a different part of their brain.
-- There are three types of stuttering: a repetition of a sound (as in t-t-t-t), a prolongation of a sound (lllll-) or what's called a stuck block, when no sound comes out.
-- More boys than girls tend to stutter.
-- 80 percent of children will outgrow stuttering, but chances become slimmer if the child starts after the age of 3.
-- Kids have a better chance of overcoming a stutter if it's addressed right away.
-- The best way to respond when someone is stuttering is to slow down the pace of the conversation and react to what the person says, not how they say it.
-- Don't look horrified when someone stutters, and don't tell them to slow down or finish their sentences for them.
-- Stuttering is a speech disorder, not a mental disorder.
For more information, visit www.stutteringhelp.org.
NOTABLE STUTTERERS
James Earl Jones: The famously sonorous actor is a lifelong stutterer who learned to control his speech through acting lessons and reading his own poetry aloud.
Winston Churchill: Though there is some debate whether the celebrated orator had a stutter or a lisp, he famously declared that his "impediment was no hindrance" after repeatedly practicing "S"-laden sentences.
Tiger Woods: The legendary golfer went to a special school to help with his stutter, but it was by talking to his dog that he overcame it.
Lewis Carroll: The English author had a lifelong stutter that, while preventing him from becoming a clergyman, didn't prevent him from writing his masterpiece, "Alice in Wonderland."
Marilyn Monroe: The American icon developed a stutter as a child, and supposedly fought it by speaking in the breathy, sing-songy voice that would become her hallmark.
Charles Darwin: The father of evolution inherited his stutter from his father Erasmus, who, when asked if he found his stutter inconvenient, reportedly replied, "No, sir, because I have time to think before I speak, and don't ask impertinent questions."
Joe Biden: The Democratic presidential candidate was nicknamed "Dash" as a kid because the other boys said his speech resembled Morse code. Biden responded by reciting poetry in front of a mirror and frequently quotes verses on the Senate floor.
Bruce Willis: The "Die Hard" actor had a stutter from when he was 9 years old until he was about 17, but found that he could speak perfectly while acting in school plays.
Source: Stuttering Foundation
