STUTTERING is a_handi-
cap that frustrates the most
basic human need: to com-
municate.

The listener, as well as the stut-
terer, is also at a disadvantage
because it’s hard to know how to
respond.

The first step is to understand
how upsetting the experience can
be for the stutterer. As one man
puts it, “I can’t seem to shake the
feeling of inadequacy after I have
stuttered. badly. It lasts not for
moments but sometimes for hours
or even days. I mentally play back
the incident with feelings of humil-
iation and shame.’’

The second step is simply to
listen to the stutterer patiently,
without providing words, without
looking away, and without inter-
rupting to say, ‘Slow down.”’

Listen to what the stutterer is
saying, not to how it’s being said.

Some adult stutterers appear to
cope well with their speaking dif-
ficulty; for others, the impact is
devastating.

Explains one stutterer: ‘‘1 live in
a world where such simple things
as telephone calls, answering ques-
tions, or talking to salesclerks are
major emotional experiences I
have to cope with daily. I have no
one to talk to about it who could
possibly understand.

“Talking is either a feeling of
exhilaration when I do it right, or
an orgy of self-inflicted humilia-
tion when I stutter. | punish myself
for my failures and. have come to
regard stuttering as an uncon-
trollable defect in my makeup.”’ °

Obviously, feelings. like these
can discourage people from choos-
ing desired carcers, from marriage,
even. from everyday-pleasures like
small talk.

In short, the stutterer may feel

like a giant in chains: ‘‘If only 1,

didn’t stutter, I could be anything
I wanted to be.”’ .

What causes stuttering? Despite
_ considerable research, the question
is still largely. unanswered. Never-
theless,’ many facts’ have. been
learned about stuttering. Stutterers
don’t stutter when they read in
unison, or when they sing. _

For every female stutterer there
are five males. When a stutterer
assumes another person’s role, as
in acting, the stutter often disap-
pears. Famous stutterers have in-

ANDREA STRAITH wants every stulterer to know that ‘the condition
can be helped. Once a stufterer herself, Straith is sow a specch language
patholegist who counsels people suffering from the impediment.

ment. The Lower Mainland offers
many opportunities for speech
therapy through programs aimed
at all levels of severity in stutter-
ing.

FROM

20%-50%

cluded Winston Churchill, King 4

George VI, Marilyn Monroe and
country and western singer Mel
Tillis.

‘Cures’? for stuttering . are
countless. They include everything
from taking a deep breath to put-
ting rocks in one’s mouth. Unfor-
tunately, none’ of these folk
remedies are effective. The
management of stuttering lies in
the professional field of speech-
language pathology.

Stutterers themselves, trained as
speech-language pathologists, have
done much of the ‘research and
developed much of the therapy in
this field.

Unfortunately, the public is un-
aware of help available for stut-
terers. Some stutterers may have
had ineffective treatment in
elementary school, and therefore
reject the idea of further treat-

It can be helped.
Andrea Straith is a private speech-

language pathologist who works
exclusively with adult stutterers.

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27 ~ Sunday, Jenuary 3, 1988 - North Shore News

What's happening
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