1. www.stutteringhelp.org • 800-992-9392 • www.tartamudez.org
T HE S TUTTERING F OUNDATION
A Nonprofit Organization WINTER 2010 Since 1947... Helping Those Who Stutter
Neurobiology of
Stuttering: Are there
distinct subtypes?
By Anne L. Foundas, M.D.
The exact cause of stuttering
is likely to be complex and may
be multifactorial. One potential
mechanism relates to a defec-
tive speech monitoring system.
The basic theory is that ongoing
sequential and fluent speech
output is dependent on auditory
New Film NewInsights
sensory feedback, which moni-
tors and corrects errors online.
In normally fluent individuals, a
dysfluency would be detected Tools for Success: Solution signs of change along the way.
as an “error”, and this error Focused Brief Therapy Taster is a “Solution Focused Brief
would be automatically correct- new 31⁄2 hour DVD offering high- Therapy has given me a great
ed on-line via auditory self- lights from a workshop featuring way to find out what my clients
monitoring. Stuttering behav- Willie Botterill and Frances Cook have been doing since our last
iors, such as involuntary repeti- as they provide insights into using session to move themselves for-
tions, blocks, or prolongations Solution Focused Brief Therapy ward. I really like how the ques-
in the ut- with those who stutter. tioning leads them to solutions.”
terance of This taster introduces partici- said Brian Heskin, who took part
speech el- pants to the principles and practice in the workshop featured in this
ements, of Solution Focused Brief Therapy, new film. He added, “I use the
may be providing examples of children, rating scale that clients do by
induced parents, and teenagers describing themselves all the time since it
by disrupted auditory self-mon- their ‘best hopes’ for the seems to give them
itoring within a closed-loop sys- future, using scales to de- ownership on what they
tem. Thus, stuttering can be termine the skills and re- are or are not doing to
modeled, as the result of dis- sources they already have move themselves for-
turbed auditory feedback. to attain that future, and ward. The positive ap-
In 2001, we found that the identifying the small proach fits so well.” K
planum temporale (PT), a brain
region important in auditory
processing, was anatomically Solution Focused Brief Therapy...
atypical in adults with persis- What is going well? And what else? And what else?
tent developmental stuttering
(PDS). However, the associa- being “stuck” in problem pat-
By Frances Cook, MSc, MRC-
tion of atypical PT anatomy to terns in which attempts to re-
SLT (Hons) Cert. CT
atypical function was not di- solve or cope with their difficul-
(Oxford)
rectly examined in this study. ties have become part of
Therefore, in another study we the problem.
De Shazer’s model of
attempted to determine whether However it is assumed
Solution Focused Brief
there was a relationship be- that there will be times
Therapy is based on
tween fluency and the anatomy when problems do not occur or
several core assump-
of the PT under conditions of occur less and that clients
tions about the nature of
Continued on page 13 change. Clients are viewed as Continued on page 6
2. THE
STUTTERING
2 www.stutteringhelp.org FOUNDATION 800-992-9392
Longtime SFA Supporter
Edward Rondthaler was one of the 20th century’s foremost
men of letters – actual physical audible letters. An outspoken
advocate of spelling re-
form, he spent decades
trying to impose order
on his 26 lawless
charges. As a noted ty-
pographer who first
plied his trade 99 years
ago, he helped bring
the art of typesetting
Photo by Joyce Dopken of the New York Times.
from the age of hot
metal into the modern
era – and he was a per-
son who stuttered.
Mr. Rondthaler established a national reputation by helping usher
in the age of photographic typesetting. Phototypesetting was for
decades a vital bridge between the hot-metal days of old and the dig-
ital typography of today.
A man of strong constitution and ardent
enthusiasms, Mr. Rondthaler died on Aug.
19, 2009. He was 104 and attributed his
longevity to having taken cold showers
daily since 1918.
Mr. Rondthaler first became known more
than 70 years ago for his seminal work in
‘81 photographic typesetting.
November 23
In the mid-1930s, he and a colleague,
tion of America Harold Horman, perfected a phototypeset-
Speech Founda Rd. ting device that helped streamline the tra-
152 Lombardy . 38111
Me mphis, Tenn ditional art of setting type. Known as the
Rutherford photo-lettering machine, it
Gentlemen: u this check
re th at I send yo ed your book was one of the first such devices in wide
ormous pleasu I receiv
It is with en dollars. Two weeks ago have read it with commercial use.
for a thousand for the Stutterer” and . And I speak from
y
‘Self-Therap ery word in it rings tr ue Bogue Armed with their new machine, the
Bassett, and
amazement. Ev experience---from Adler, itmyer and Warren. two men founded Photo-Lettering Inc., a
Tw
a lifetime of alphabet to Scripture,
right down th
e , the highly respected New York typographic
ago. Today, at 76
ences ar e from long r half of my life stam- house whose clients included many of
Those experi ch much less, and fo handicap.
mu
severity is en more of an inconven ience than a en to the the country’s best-known magazines
e has gott
mering has be me is that at last someon t it in an under- and advertising agencies.
What excites n write abou line.
trouble and ca total empathy with every Edward Rondthaler III was born on
root of the d way. I have
standi ng, luci June 9, 1905, in Bethlehem, Pa. His fa-
sense.
It all makes rers. There ther was a bishop of the Moravian
young stamme
a boy ther e were many ng time I had been won-
When I was for a lo e lit- Church, as was his paternal grandfa-
wer now, and e I’ve seen th
seem to be fe ’s been a long time sinc ve in almost every ther. Edward III was reared in Winston-
It used to ha
dering why. e and others s at last ri
sen
tle ads that Bogu y speech correction ha dation has had Salem, N.C., where his father was
magazine. Clearl at your foun president of Salem College.
ry, an d I’m sure th
above quacke th that. At 5, Edward received a toy print-
much to do wi I’d like
e Foundation
re inform ation about th er it in my will. ing press as a gift and began pub-
If you have mo it. I’d like to rememb lishing his own newspaper - a very
to know about
y,
small newspaper, about the size of a
Very cordiall postcard. Only a few years later, he
and a friend opened a print shop in
a nearby basement, doing jobs for
3. THE
STUTTERING
WINTER 2010 FOUNDATION 800-992-9392 3
Edward Rondthaler Dies at 104
paying customers; they ran the
business through high school and Ed Rondthaler with Jane
Fraser (left photo) and
for a year afterward, to earn col- Stuttering Foundation Board
lege money. member Jean Gruss (below)
After studying at at a reception honoring
Stuttering Foundation
Westminster Choir College — Founder, Malcolm Fraser
besides singing, he played the (middle photo). Ed had lobbied
flute, oboe and bassoon — Mr. tirelessly for Malcolm to
receive the Doctor of Humane
Rondthaler earned a bachelor’s Letters from Hamilton College
degree in psychology from the in 1989 for his work on behalf
University of North Carolina, of those who stutter.
Chapel Hill, in 1929. He wrote
his senior thesis on the effects of
different typefaces on the read-
er’s perception of a text.
Throughout these years, he
struggled with stuttering and
hoped that his music studies
would help alleviate the difficulty.
Mr. Rondthaler then moved to
New York, where he was an art
director for a commercial type-
setter. In 1936, he and Mr.
Horman founded Photo-
Lettering, which specialized in
headline and display type. The two men finally met face to face
company was built around their
“So we all move the morning of June 15, 1989, after
new phototypesetting machine, along trying to many years of corresponding.
which helped modernize a tech- Earlier Rondthaler had this to say
nology that had changed little in make the world a about Fraser’s book, “I have read
hundreds of years. little better because your book, Self Therapy for the
For centuries, type was cast in Stutterer, with amazement. Every
molten lead and set painstakingly we were here.” word of it rings true. And I speak
by hand. In the mid-20th century, from a lifetime of experience.”
the advent of phototypesetting ~Edward Rondthaler wrote in “What excites me is that at last
freed the alphabet from its leaden a letter to Jane Fraser in 1987 someone has gotten to the root of the
shackles, making it possible to trouble and can write about it in an
He was a prolific writer of letters understanding, lucid way. I have
manipulate letters as pure photo-
to the editor on a variety of subjects. total empathy with every line. It all
graphic images.
He invented many things, including makes sense.”
Mr. Rondthaler also helped K
a slide rule that calculated currency-
found the International Typeface When asked why
exchange rates and another slide
Corporation, which designed and
rule that computed cooking times of
licensed many commercial fonts,
foods based on weight. he supported the
and the Type Directors Club.
Mr. Rondthaler’s long campaign
Even after he turned 100, Mr. Stuttering Foundation,
Rondthaler embarked on a new ca-
to reform English spelling did not he replied, “Because it
reer in television commercials, ap-
bear much fruit, yet he had a great
pearing in campaigns for Pearle completely changed
deal else to occupy his time. He
Vision and Genworth Financial.
wrote several books, among them my life – for the good.”
In 1989, Rondthaler lobbied tire-
Alphabet Thesaurus: A Treasury of
lessly to ensure that SFA founder
Letter Design” (Reinhold, 1960) and
Malcolm Fraser received an hon- This article is based on an obit-
a memoir, Life With Letters — As
orary degree from Hamilton uary written by Margalit Fox of the
They Turned Photogenic (Hastings
College in Clinton, New York. The New York Times.
House, 1981).
4. THE
STUTTERING
4 www.stutteringhelp.org FOUNDATION 800-992-9392
Number 10 BSA Chair Leys
... Again Geddes raising
awareness of
stammering, by
stammering at
Stuttering Foundation No 10!
President Jane Fraser was
the only American at a re-
Jane Fraser, Baroness Whitaker and ception in honor of
authors Dame Margaret Drabble and the British Stammering
David Mitchell. Association at 10 Downing Dr. Trudy Stewart
(University of
Street on Dec. 1. Leeds) in
In attendance during animated
Frances Cook, the London event were discussion with
Jane Fraser and Ed Balls MP.
Cabinet Minister Ed Balls
Willie Botterill
and other dignitaries,
celebrities, and leading
researchers and therapists
in the field of stuttering.
Jane Fraser
“A second visit in a and Sarah Brown
Dr. Robin Lickley
from Queen Margaret year!” said Fraser. “It is greet
University, Edinburgh, really a thrill to be back at Frances Cook.
with Jane Fraser and Number 10.”
Frances Cook.
During the fall of 2008,
Fraser joined actor
Michael Palin and the staff
of the Michael Palin
Centre for Stammering
BSA education
British Stammering Children during a recep- officer Cherry
Association Chair
Leys Geddes tion hosted by Mrs. Sarah Hughes with
and Ed Balls MP Brown, the wife of Prime Matthew Sumpter
Minister Gordon Brown. K and Ed Balls MP.
Economy Doesn’t Derail Support for Stuttering
Railroad Vice President Kirk
Shelby Railroad Tarver said of his grandmother. “It
didn’t matter to us, but it embar-
On Board to Help rassed her. Back in the ‘30s, there
wasn’t any help.”
Kids Who Stutter “We are so grateful for the ded-
Kirk and John Tarver and icated friendship and support the
their Memphis-based Shelby Tarvers and Shelby Railroad have
Railroad Services Inc. raised an shown us,” Fraser said.
astonishing $6,000 for the Kirk and John Tarver Shelby Railroad Services Inc.
Stuttering Foundation. with Jane Fraser. was founded by John Tarver in
Shelby Railroad held their an- August 1974. The family owned
nual fund-raising golf outing and Trophies for the event4
company is committed to provid-
dinner on Oct. 1 at Wedgewood This is the eighth year the com- ing the railroad industry with the
Golf Club in Olive Branch, Miss. pany teamed up with the Stuttering highest quality materials and con-
“This generous gift comes at a Foundation to honor Ruth struction services in the Mid-
perfect time to boost our fall cam- McGuiness Tarver, the late mother South and surrounding areas.
paign. What is even more amazing of company president and founder Their services include design, new
is that people came forward to sup- John Tarver. Ruth stuttered from construction, maintenance, repair,
port our cause during these hard the time she was a young child. and the supply of rail materials
economic times,” said Jane Fraser. “She was a great lady,” Shelby and equipment. K
5. THE
STUTTERING
WINTER 2010 FOUNDATION 800-992-9392 5
A Voice for the Big Cats
S
tuttering tists, researchers
Foundation and partners to
spokesman document their fa-
and conser- vorite encounters
vationist Alan with big cats in
Rabinowitz, actress the wild, known
Glenn Close, and as “Cat Tales,”
former Assistant were on display
Secretary of State throughout the re-
Claudia McMurray ception hall.
were on hand for Award winning
the annual Panthera photographer
Conservation Steve Winter, au-
Advisory Committee thor Luke Hunter,
reception in honor and conservation-
of Carlos Manuel ist Andrea
Rodriquez of Costa Heydlauf shared
Rica whose vision- their stories with
ary policies helped “Catching jaguars and guests.
secure crucial habitat for jaguars. tigers, negotiating with Panthera and the Stuttering
Also in attendance to applaud this presidents and dictators Foundation share a common goal –
exciting award were Stuttering - that’s easy stuff! The to always work hard to set the bar
Foundation President Jane Fraser and challenge for me has ever higher for excellence in our re-
Vice President Joe Fulcher. been living with the lit- spective fields. As a result,
Mr. Rodriquez, who advises gov- tle, stuttering, insecure Panthera continues to develop and
ernments worldwide on adapting boy inside. The boy implement conservation strategies
his groundbreaking strategy of who’d come home from for the world’s most imperiled wild
payments for ecosystem services, school every day and cats, and the Stuttering Foundation
was the 2009 recipient of the yearn for the darkness works to promote excellence in re-
Rabinowitz-Kaplan Prize for and safety of his closet.” search and to provide resources,
Excellence in Cat Conservation. ~ Alan Rabinowitz services and support to those who
Stories from Panthera’s scien- stutter and their families. K
In the 1980s,
Dr. Alan
Rabinowitz
radio-collared
jaguars for a
Luke Hunter study leading
has conducted to establish-
Field work to ment of the
protect large world's first
cats in Africa jaguar reserve
since 1992. His in Belize’s
efforts have fo- Cockscomb
cused on lions Basin. Here
as well as chee- Alan remem-
tahs and leop- bers one of
ards. He is the first
leading the first jaguars he
intensive study collared, Ah
of Persian leop- Renowned actress Glenn Puch, who
ards and of the Close shares her passion tragically
critically endan- later died
gered Asiatic for the big cats in award- after breaking
cheetah in Iran. ing the 2009 prize. two teeth.
7. THE
WINTER 2010 STUTTERING 800-992-9392 7
FOUNDATION
Stuttering Didn’t Silence the News
Byron Pitts has brought much teria but could only say the word ago cast outside as outdated.
attention to stuttering with his soda. I’ve never liked soda. Today, there are a number of insti-
memoir, Step Out on Nothing: Would never drink it if I had the tutions that work faithfully and
How Faith and Family Helped choice…. At the time self-esteem skillfully with people of all ages
Me Conquer Life’s Challenges, was a term with little meaning in who stutter. I have done a few
released in September, 2009. the world of a child, but it’s clear news stories on stuttering but have
The book not only details his to me now I had very little self- never sought specialized training.
speech difficulties, but also his esteem back then.” I could certainly still use it. There
illiteracy until age 12 and his un- Dr. Ed Robinson, a speech are words with which I still strug-
stable family life. Pitts overcame communications professor at gle. Phrases I avoid.” Pitts noted.
the odds to become a national Ohio Wesleyan, took an interest He does tell of the time he stut-
correspondent with CBS News. in Pitts and led him toward the tered on TV during a live shot
Born in 1960, Pitts graduated path to fluency. Dr. Robinson and when Terrell Harris and Pitts were
from Ohio Wesleyan University a Ohio State colleague worked both covering a case of govern-
in 1982. Beginning as a weekend with Pitts over the course of the ment corruption. To avoid stutter-
sports anchor in 1983 at WNCT- next year on speech exercises ing, he prepares and rehearses
TV in Greenville, N.C., what he has to say. However
Pitts worked his way up the Pitts states, “….. rather than
ladder before being named hearing the introduction I ex-
a CBS News correspondent pected on the corruption
in 1998. He later became a story, the anchor asked me a
contributor to 60 Minutes question about the weather. I
and the chief national cor- froze. I was unable to react
respondent for The CBS quickly to the unexpected
Evening News with Katie question. In trying to respond,
Couric. He has received I stuttered. I intended to say
numerous awards including that it had started to snow
national Emmys for his when we first arrived this
coverage of the Chicago morning. But it came out as ‘s-
train wreck in 1999 and for his which culminated in Pitts never s-s-s-s-snow”. I looked at my feet
reporting of the Sept. 11 attacks. stutterering while on live radio. to try to kick-start my brain.”
Early in life he struggled with Pitts was encouraged to host a “That night I ate my dinner
many of the same difficulties that program at the radio station and alone in an edit suite and watched
are common for young people used the technique of singing his that live shot over and over again.
who stutter. In an interview with sentences to transition between I made a copy on VHS tape and
CBS News, Pitts stated, “I was the words without taking a breath. took it home so I could watch it
bullied through elementary “Through the years I have again. I wanted to see if there was
school and much of junior high talked with skilled speech pathol- a way to prevent something like
school … I didn’t have many ogists who talk about the dark that from ever happening again.
friends because of my stutter. I ages of working with people who But the shame has never left me.”
was embarrassed a lot of times stutter. Many of the things Dr. The multiple challenges Pitts
and out of that embarrassment Robinson had me do were long had to overcome in his early
came anger and isolation.” years are truly inspirational.
In his book Pitts noted, While the most dominant
“… from my childish per- challenge covered by the
spective, I was simply a press since the release of Step
freak: the strange one, the one Out on Nothing has been his
who couldn’t get the words years of illiteracy, Pitts’ open-
out, couldn’t do a simple ness about his stuttering has
thing like speak clearly. For brought great attention to this
me, it was like living as a disorder. It is safe to say that
prisoner inside a cell … and Byron Pitts is a role model for
the times I just wanted a generation of young people
lemonade in the school cafe- who stutter. K
8. THE
STUTTERING
8 FOUNDATION
www.stutteringhelp.org 800-992-9392
Stuttering Didn’t Ground Me Uncovering a
By Lt. Jason Mansour, NOAA, Masterpiece
Aviation Operations Coordinator By Paul Noor
I am currently a uniformed As a child growing up in a
service pilot who struggled - sig- small village north of Iran, just
nificantly - during my youth south of Russia, I struggled with a
with stuttering. severe stutter and even considered
There were times when I would not talking and learning sign lan-
go weeks guage. Today I am a speaker and
without speak at businesses, clubs,
being able to schools, colleges, churches and
say a sen- correctional facilities.
tence without When I was a young man, I
stuttering, made a promise to myself that one
and of course day I would overcome my stutter-
the social ing and become a public speaker. It
consequences was a huge promise as I could not
and anxiety even say my own name, but I also
would only make the problem made another promise to myself:
worse. Heck, even hearing a dial conquer in and out of the cock- not to give up or lose hope until I
tone on the phone was enough to pit. I can recall the impact it had achieved my dream.
raise my heart-rate and anxiety on my adolescence and am About 30 years ago after I grad-
knowing I would have to speak to grateful for the support of my uated from the engineering school
someone in the next few seconds. friends and family during that in my home country of Iran, I
My family graciously was difficult time in my life. came to the United States to get
able to access a speech therapy It’s important for young peo- my Ph.D. and find a cure for my
clinic at the local college in ple to understand that stuttering severe stuttering. For the first 10
Maryland and after several years is not, and should not be, consid- years, I tried different therapies—
I was able to receive treatment ered an ‘absolute’ condition, and nothing worked—no cure.
and assistance with a problem that it can and often does im- Actually when I moved to the
that I have, frankly, been able to prove with proper treatment. K United States, my stuttering got
worse as stuttering and learning a
new language do not go together
very well.
‘Words of Wisdom’ I came across a story of how
The Stuttering Foundation re- “I think trying to improve flu- Michelangelo created the “Statue
ceived this letter from longtime ency, for many people, is very of David.” There was a piece of
friend and supporter Dan much like trying to lose weight marble left on the side of the
Pappas, and we thought it would or quit smoking. It’s not the one- road. It was covered with dirt
be an inspiration to others time fix that counts but the con- and trash, and no one was paying
“I frequently think about what tinual effort. During my lifetime, attention to it. One day as
Marty Jezer said in his mar- I’ve had some marvelous periods Michelangelo was walking on
velous book, Stuttering: A Life of fluency while at other times, I that street, he saw David in that
Bound Up in Words. The book is have had some inexplicable peri- marble. He took it to his shop,
a recounting of all his attempts ods of relapse.” cleaned it up, and turned it into a
to find a way to stop stuttering. When asked how he deals piece of art. The story of David
At one point, he said in exasper- with stuttering, Dan replied with and how it was created from a
ation ‘I’ve tried everything...’ another question, “How do I leftover and unwanted piece of
“Well, I could not get past that make speech therapy part of my marble inspired me. I determined
sentiment for many years. everyday life?” K
to uncover the masterpiece that I
Finally I came up with a reply, Editor’s note: Making therapy a believed was hidden inside me.
summed up in the short phrase, part of your everyday commitment My goal was to overcome my
‘Have you tried again?’ can make a difference. stutter and become a speaker.
Continued on page 12
9. THE
STUTTERING
FOUNDATION 800-992-9392 9
WINTER 2010
Therapists Jazzed
in The Big Easy
Photos courtesy of the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Treally jivingFoundation AmericanConvention.
he Stuttering
at the
booth was
Speech-Language–Hearing Association
Popular items included new products as well as many
of the classics: The 2009 DVD Tools for Success: A
Cognitive Behavior Therapy Taster, the teen brochure
Stuttering Myths, Beliefs, and Straight Talk, and
the 8 Tips for Teachers and 7 Tips for Talking with
Your Child flyers. Older, yet still popular
products, were The School-Age Child Who
Stutters: Working Effectively With Attitudes
and Emotions workbook, the DVD Cluttering,
and the book Self-Therapy for the Stutterer.
An energetic group of 29 volunteers
helped staff the twenty-foot booth. A special
thanks to Elise Kaufman, Kathy Swiney, Joan
Babin, Charlie Osborne, Peter Ramig, Nancy
Ribbler, Julie Gasway, Joel Korte, Rick Arenas,
Robin Jones, James Panico, Susan
Cochrane, Joe Donaher, Sheryl
Gottwald, Katerina Ntourou, Lisa
Scott, Kristin Chmela, Judy Kuster,
Rita Thurman, Jim Tsiamtsioursis,
Steffi Schopick, Kathleen Scaler
Scott, Jennifer Watson, From top: Jane Fraser helps speech
Courtney Byrd, Wendy Wingard-Gay, therapists select resources; Terri
Geoff Coalson, Jeffrey Mock, Dahye Choi Jones andwith an attendee; discuss
a DVD
Katerina Ntourou
Renee
and Rich Ecke. K Shepherd takes time to wave to the
camera as she helps set up the booth;
after setting up the booth, Jane
5From top: Charlie Osborne; Carol Ecke and Sheryl Gottwald; Katerina Ntourou and Terri Fraser, Carol Ecke, Terri Jones and
Jones; Carol and Rich Ecke; Renee Shepherd answers questions; and Jane Fraser discusses Renee Shepherd gather for a picture;
Stuttering Foundation materials with John Van Borsel and Monica de Britto Pereira. Peter Ramig and Nancy Ribbler.
10. THE
STUTTERING
10 FOUNDATION 800-992-9392
www.stutteringhelp.org
Dear SFA: Reader Response
Send letters to SFA, P.O. Box 11749, Memphis, TN 38111-0749 or e-mail info@stutteringhelp.org.
VP Knows Stuttering you will discover new strengths and helps me while speaking. These
Dear SFA: skills to help you overcome not only strategies all help me speak better.
My name is Paul. I go to speech this challenge, but also future life I hope that all kids who stutter
therapy because I have trouble with challenges as well.” use their strategies. Also, if any
my language skills and I stutter. My Excellent advice for everyone, classmates tease them, they
friend, who also stutters, my speech from Paul and the VP! should just ignore them and keep
teacher and I did a presentation in moving forward.
front of my class about stut- Ghiovaney
tering. We talked about how Orlando, Fla.
Vice President Joe Biden
used to stutter. And, I also Everyone Stutters
wrote an article in the school Dear SFA:
newspaper about it. Everyone My name is Jean. I’m 10
at school liked it and I hope years old and in 5th grade.
you do too: I like to play soccer, video
“Did you know that in games, basketball, football,
the vice president’s young and I like watching TV.
life he had some trouble in When I stutter, I get furious
school? He took speech because I can’t get my words
therapy because he had a out correctly. I feel shy when
little bit of trouble speak- I’m talking to someone.
ing… (and also to)…make Then, in the middle of a
his stuttering better. word, I stutter. I get nervous
“How come the vice presi- when I have to speak to a
dent had trouble in his young Paul holds a letter from group of people. Sometimes,
life and now he is the vice the vice president and I get frustrated because peo-
president? Because he never a copy of his school ple laugh at me. I just try to
let it bother him … That newspaper. ignore them and keep talking.
means that if you have any The strategies I learned
problems in school or out of with my speech teacher are
school, don’t let it get to you. slow, easy speech, pausing, and
Don’t let people make you feel like Keep on Talking phrasing. Slow, easy speech
a bad person. …pick friends that Dear SFA: helps me not talk so fast.
will guide you and help My name is Ghiovaney and Pausing and phrasing help me
you…and…keep on trying and I’m 10 years old and in the fifth break up the sentence and take
you will be successful...” grade. I’ve been going to speech pauses so I can slow down.
Paul for two years. I like to play soc- The only thing I can say to peo-
Arcade, NY cer, football, and basketball. I ple who stutter is to never give up
Editor’s Note: Paul was thrilled to also like to play video games and keep your speech moving for-
receive a personal letter of thanks after I finish my homework. I ward. Ignore the people who both-
and encouragement from the vice have two brothers, one younger er you. Don’t get mad about your
president, who thanked Paul for and one older than me. stuttering. Almost everyone in the
writing to him and for sharing his When I stutter, I feel OK with it. world stutters sometimes, even
personal experiences with stutter- To me, it’s not a big deal. I’m posi- Darren Sproles! If you don’t know
ing, saying, “…I personally under- tive about it and don’t let people get who he is, he is a famous football
stand the terrible fear and frustra- to me. Sometimes I stutter when I player. Don’t be shy when talking
tion of a stutterer.” talk to my classmates, but I just to other girls and boys. Don’t let
“If I could share one piece of ad- keep on going. The strategies that stuttering control your life.
vice it would be this: when you com- my speech teacher taught me that Jean
mit yourself to a goal and when you work are “easy onset” and “phras- Orlando, Fla.
persevere in the face of a struggle, ing.” Making good eye contact also Continued on page 11
11. THE
STUTTERING
FOUNDATION 11
WINTER 2010 800-992-9392
Letters Continued from page 10 the kids in my class understand
Stuttering is OK why I stutter. I stutter at home A Word About
too — a lot. I am learning new
Dear SFA:
I am 8 years old. I am OK with strategies to help with my stut- Stuttering
stuttering but not perfect. tering. It doesn’t really matter if
I stutter because I am a super By Myles Buchanan
Sometimes I stutter with a friend
or my mom and dad. I go to ther- cool kid.
T.J., My stutter has been with me
apy so I can have help. since before I can remember.
Jonathan, Milwaukee, Wis.
Over the years, it has manifested
New York itself in numerous ways: When I
Speech Teacher Helps
Dear SFA: was young, in loud whole-word
Teasing Hurts repetitions; when I was in the
Dear SFA: My name is Dylan. I am 8 years
old. I stutter when I talk fast. My nervous beginnings of adoles-
My name is Chynna and I’m 8 cence, in frantic sticking jitters
years old. A lot of people in my speech teacher helps me not to stut-
ter with pull- on a single sound; and now in
class tease me less conspicuous but still dread-
about stutter- outs. This helps
me relax. This ed silent blocks in which words
ing. When I simply
talk, I stutter. helps me get
out the stutter. stop dead
People finish in my
my sentences. Dylan,
Missouri mouth.
I tell them to I’ve hated
stop but they it, laughed
don’t. I feel Friends
Make a at it, made
embarrassed. light of it,
Chynna, Difference
Dear SFA: come close to tears about it, and
Georgia above all have resented it, but
Editor’s Note: 11-year-old “J” from Brooklyn, My name is
Cohen and I stuttering has become an inte-
Sometimes it gral part of who I am.
N.Y., drew this picture telling us that stutter. When
helps to talk to My frustration with the spo-
your classmates people around the world stutter. I turned 8 in
ken word began when I was five
about stuttering second grade
I was teased and I did not like and endured on into middle
and how it hurts to be teased. Your school, and I learned to despise
it at all.
speech teacher can help you make a my stutter. My teachers were
Even though I was teased
presentation to your class. Read kind and my classmates accept-
about my stuttering I still made
Jean’s letter on page 10 for tips. friends. I got better with my ing, but neither of these things
stuttering because I go to could dispel the constant irrita-
‘Super Cool Kid’ speech. tion that I suffered because of
Dear SFA: I went to a stuttering conference my speech impediment. I had
I am T.J. and I am almost 9 1⁄2 in Phoneix. It was so fun because intelligent, thoughtful, impor-
years old. I don’t like it when we make a lot of things. We made tant things to say, but my stutter
people make fun of my stutter. our own T-shirts. The hotel had a hindered my speech.
It hurts my feelings. I try not to pool shaped as a U. It had a raft I’m sixteen now, and have
do it. I try to use “slow, and slide. come to view my stutter with a
smooth, speech,” and it helps a There are a lot of people who healthy touch of levity. Through
tad bit. I try breathing in and stutter besides me. There’s work with my speech patholo-
breathing out and then talking. Johnny Damon for example. gist, Kristen Haines Mangan,
That helps too. Sometimes, I People need to stop teasing other I’ve become well-equipped to
don’t want to talk in class. My people about their stuttering. deal with my speech impedi-
classmates say, “Why don’t you I have friends who will stick by ments and exercise a measure of
talk a lot?” I tell them why and my side and don’t care if I stutter. control over them.
when I tell them why, they start They don’t call me names.
laughing at me.
to be continued... visit
Don’t let other people get to
In class, we talked about every- our Web site, www.stutter-
you about your stuttering.
one having something that is Cohen, inghelp.org, for the rest of this
hard for them. That helped. Now, Boston, Mass. K
article. Click on “Teens.” K
