My best quality?i stutter

My Best Quality? I Stutter


































  






My name is Thomas Gambino. I am 6 foot 7, 244 pounds with an unfortunate receding hairline. Currently, I am a first year doctoral student at Rutgers University studying school psychology. Most importantly I am someone who stutters.
Growing up I was embarrassed, ashamed and disgusted with the way I spoke. I can remember walking into restaurants and running into the bathroom because I was afraid to order my food. I can remember being afraid to say my own name. I can remember the way my classmates repeated my stutter back to me and called me “retarded.” I can remember sitting quietly, screaming inside to participate in class, but not saying a word. I can remember thinking people were better me. I can remember yelling at God for making me the way I am. Growing up I wanted to keep my stutter quiet. I thought I made my friends and family look bad when I spoke; I felt like I was letting them down. I was over a foot taller than everyone, which made it hard for me to hide.  I was the biggest kid in the school, afraid to speak.
In 8th grade, things started to change as a result of three years of speech therapy in middle school. During my graduation, I received the school’s character award. This award is given to someone that is doing the right thing regardless of whether anyone is watching. The first two gifts my stutter gave me were courage and fearlessness. When I started high school I began excelling in sports, making new friends and doing well in my academic classes. The third gift stuttering gave me was helping me see who my true friends were. If people made fun of me or did not listen to what I was saying, they were a waste of my time. On the basketball court I started varsity my junior and senior year. My junior year, we won the county championship and I was recognized individually with a few awards. The fourth gift stuttering gave me was the gift of perseverance. There were times during the basketball season that I wanted to quit, but it was my teammates and my family that kept me going.  After high school, I was recruited to play college basketball.  While playing college basketball I was able to work with many different types of children. The fifth gift my stutter gave me was empathy. I knew what it was like to be bullied and made fun of for something you can’t control.
After two years of playing college basketball, I decided to step away and take up an internship with a school psychologist. It was a life-changing experience. I was able to work with many different types of students. I learned that many, even at a younger age, were going through significantly more than I did. These students inspired me and really put my life into perspective. I found my passion in working with children. Many do not have the same support systems as I did growing up. So I want to be there for them and see them reach their biggest goals. The sixth gift my stutter gave me was finding my passion in working with children.
Today, I am a proud stutterer with limitless possibilities and potential ahead of me. My positivity and outlook on life is due to my stutter. The seventh gift my stutter gives me is being able to enjoy the littlest things in life. Plus, all the years of ridicule and bashing I received makes me unstoppable. I have heard it all before. In closing, for those that are struggling with their stutter and for those who have not found the reason why they stutter or its purpose, it will get better. We are here for a reason and so is your stutter. Your daily courage inspires everyone around you. People look up to you and you are unstoppable. What we have to say is worth repeating, is worth repeating.
Source:stuttering foundation of America

Notes to the teacher

8 Tips for Teachers.
Famous People Who Stutter
Teachers often report difficulty in knowing what to do about a child who stutters in the classroom.


For example...


•Should he be expected to give oral reports, read out loud, or answer questions?


•Should you talk to him about his speech or ignore it?
•What should you do if other children tease her?
•These are only a few of the questions often asked by teachers.


The pre-school and kindergarten child
All children in this age group are busily learning to talk. As such, they make speech mistakes. We call these "mistakes" disfluencies.


Some children have more than others, and this is normal. There are certain children, however, who have many disfluencies--particularly repetition and prolongation of sounds. These are quite noticeable to listeners.


If you are concerned that there may be a problem of stuttering developing with one of these children, don't pay any special attention to the child at this point. Rather, talk to a speech pathologist for suggestions.


Also, talk to the parents about their opinion of the problem so that you know whether this is typical speech behavior for him. In most instances, if parents, teachers, and others listen to and answer the child in a patient, calm, and unemotional way, the child's speech returns to normal as his language abilities and his adjustments to school improve. If the child continues to have disfluencies, however, you may want to ask a speech pathologist to observe him.


The elementary school child
There are children in this age group who not only repeat and prolong sounds markedly, but also struggle and become tense and frustrated in their efforts to talk.


They need help. Without it, their stuttering problem will probably adversely affect their classroom performance. As suggested with the preschool child, consult with a speech pathologist as well as with the parents and discuss your observations with them.


If you, the parents, and the speech pathologist agree that this child's disfluencies are different from other children in your classroom, you may decide as a team to evaluate the child for stuttering.


A major concern for most teachers is the child's reactions to his stuttering in the classroom. How should the child be expected to participate in class?


 The answer to this question depends on the individual child. At one extreme is the child who may be quite unconcerned and happy to participate like any other child; at the other extreme the child who will cry and refuse to talk.


 Most are somewhere in between. If the child is being seen by a speech pathologist, find out her opinion about reasonable expectations. Also, ask the child how he would like to participate.


Sometimes participation requirements become part of the child's IEP.
Talk with the child: show your support
Usually it is advisable for you to talk with the child privately.


Explain to him that when talking--just like when learning other skills--we sometimes make mistakes. We bobble sounds or repeat or get tangled up on words. With practice we improve.


Explain that you are his teachers and that his stuttering is okay with you.
By talking to the child in this way, you help him learn that you are aware of his stuttering and that you accept it--and him.
Answering questions


•As you are asking questions in the classroom, you can do certain things to make it easier for a child who stutters.


•Initially, until he adjusts to the class, ask him questions that can be answered with relatively few words.


•If every child is going to be asked a question, call on the child who stutters fairly early. Tension and worry can build up the longer he has to wait his turn.


•Assure the whole class that (1) they will have as much time as they need to answer questions, and (2) you are interested in having them take time and think through their answers, not just answer quickly.
Reading aloud in class


Many children who stutter are able to handle oral reading tasks in the classroom satisfactorily, particularly if they are encouraged to practice at home. There will be some, however, who will stutter severely while reading aloud in class. The following suggestions may help these children.


Most children who stutter are fluent when reading in unison with someone else. Rather than not calling on the child who stutters, let him have his turn with one of the other children. Let the whole class read in pairs sometimes so that the child who stutters doesn't feel "special." Gradually he may become more confident and be able to manage reading out loud on his own.
Teasing


•Teasing can be very painful for the student who stutters, and it should be eliminated as far as possible.


•If the child has obviously been upset by teasing, talk with him or her one-on-one. Help the child to understand why others tease, and brainstorm ideas for how to respond.


•If any certain children are picking on him, talk to them alone and explain that teasing is unacceptable.


•Try to enlist their help. Most want the approval of the teachers.
•If the problem persists, you may want to consult a guidance counselor or social worker if one is available in your building. They often have good suggestions for managing teasing.
Speech therapy


If you are unsure whether a speech pathologist is available in your school, talk with your building administrator. Also, suggest to the parents that they seek one out who specializes in stuttering and who has a Certificate of Clinical Competence from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. The Stuttering Foundation of America offers free referrals at www.stutteringhelp.org or call toll-free 1-800-992-9392.


We have listed a few general points here. Always keep in mind that each child is different, and your caring positive attitude will make a big difference.


We have listed a few general points here. Always keep in mind that each child is different and your caring positive attitude will make a big difference.


Tips for Talking with the Child who Stutters...
1.Don't tell the child to slow down or "relax."
2.Don't complete words for the child or talk for him or her.
3.Help all members of the class learn to take turns talking and listening. All children -- especially those who stutter -- find it much easier to talk when there are few interruptions and they have the listener's attention.
4.Expect the same quality and quantity of work from the student who stutters as the one who doesn't.
5.Speak with the student in an unhurried way, pausing frequently.
6.Convey that you are listening to the content of the message, not how it was said.
7.Have a one-on-one conversation with the student who stutters about needed accommodations in the classroom. Respect the student's needs but do not be enabling.
8.Don't make stuttering something to be ashamed of. Talk about stuttering just like any other matter.
source:stuttering foundation of America.

Being Open About Stuttering

  










By Voon Pang


Stuttering Treatment and Research Trust of New Zealand


As the Stuttering Foundation of America celebrates sixty-five years of helping those who stutter, it is timely to acknowledge one man’s journey to being open about his stuttering.


 In 1947, Malcolm Fraser met with Dr Charles Van Riper to discuss setting up a nonprofit charitable organisation to help others who stuttered, spurred on from his own personal and often painful experience of stuttering.


Sixty-five years on, I am privileged to continue his cause by talking about the importance of being open about stuttering. As a person and speech-language pathologist who does not stutter, I hope I can capture some key points I’ve learnt from my contemporaries, the pioneers who have shaped our practice and our understanding of stuttering and most importantly, the people I’ve worked with who stutter.


Being open about stuttering transcends all ages. It applies to the parent of a young pre-schooler who stutters, the school age child who stutters, or the teen/young adult who stutters and the adult who stutters. Within each group and life stage, strong feelings such as fear, shame and or guilt can prevent us from being open.


For the parent, questions such as “Will I make it worse if I comment on it?” or “Is it OK to talk about stuttering?” often pop up. For the child/teen/young adult, “Will my friends laugh at me if I tell them I stutter?” is a common thought. Finally, for the adult, “Will I get a date if I disclose that I stutter?” or “What will others think?”


To help understand why being open about stuttering helps, I like to compare stuttering to asthma. In my opinion, stuttering and asthma are similar in that an interaction between environmental factors and physiological factors can further exacerbate the difficulty.


For example, in stuttering the demands of talking in a fast paced communicative environment along with the genetic predisposition to stutter can contribute to an increase in stuttering.


In asthma, an environment with allergens or dust or a physically exerting activity combined with a genetic predisposition to asthma can contribute to an asthmatic episode. So what would a parent of a child with asthma do if they knew their child was entering a cross-country race?


 They’d let the teacher or event organisers know. What would an adult with asthma do if he/she knew that they were entering a situation where they needed their Ventolin? They’d let a friend, colleague or family member know.


In stuttering, we have a duty to let our listeners know that we (or our child) stutter(s). The parent of a child who stutters can inform their child’s teacher in advance before the school year begins. This can promote an open conversation about how to best help the child within the classroom.


Similarly, older children or teenagers can disclose to their peers that they stutter and most listener reactions will be supportive (if not supportive then at least with some curiosity!).


 For adults who stutter, being open about stuttering can be the most liberating and freeing experience after many years and attempts at hiding their stuttering and tricking their listeners into thinking that they are fluent speakers.


You can chip away those negative feelings by taking a step forward. For the older child/teen/adult who stutters it may feel like a leap, but I can assure you the benefits are well worth it!


 For the parent of a young child who stutters, open acknowledgement about stuttering is often the first steps to successful treatment of stuttering in its infancy. It also provides a verbal hug to kids who need it most, where they are at a time in their lives that they are learning to do many things and need comfort for making mistakes.


To conclude, the movie “The King’s Speech” paved the way for openness about stuttering in 2011. I don’t think anything as significant will ever come around again or at least, not for a very long time! We need to continue to ride the success and coattail of “The King’s Speech”.


 On acceptance of the Academy Award for Best Film, David Seidler triumphantly said, “We have a voice, we have been heard!” I encourage you to find your voice and be heard, whether it is for yourself, your child or a loved one. We could all do with being more open about stuttering. Let’s begin!

Voon Pang is a Speech Language Pathologist who works at the Stuttering Treatment And Research Trust (START) in Auckland, New Zealand. Since graduating in 2006, he has traveled within Australia as well as internationally (US and UK) to attend workshops and internships to be better equipped at helping those who stutter.


Source: Stuttering foundation of America.

Stuttering- A Success Story

I was recently contacted by a gentleman that had suffered deeply with speech difficulties in his youth. He made a very good point. He said that generally one hears about how difficult it is to get over the problems, and systems for living with the issue. In reality we should try to find the cause, and get past it.


His point is very well made. In the article he sent me he tells his inspiring story, and I am very happy to reproduce it here, with his permission. In this case we can't take the credit for helping David overcome his stuttering.


However in many cases we do indeed help, and have substantial success in this area. The following story is inspirational and will provide an interesting insight to those unfamiliar with the problem.


Stuttering is with you all the time. The anxiety it produces is draining


Just like you I know about stuttering. I was a stutterer from age six to seventeen. I found the cause and my life changed.


As a child life was basically no fun. Particularly at school during reading when I was asked to take my turn to read a paragraph.


After stammering and stuttering for two minutes the teacher would thank me and ask me to sit down. What is wrong with me, why don’t my parents take me to a doctor to get healed? I was a shy kid and you would be too if you failed grade three, grade 8 and grade 10 because my head and emotions were so mixed up.


A life changing venture was about to happen, my parents sent me to a school for problem kids for two years to complete my high school education. It was there that caring teachers and a minister counseled students to resolve their problems.


In my case I was encouraged to participate in a public speaking contest in front of 100 other students. I believed if I was ever going to beat my stuttering I was going to accept every challenge and open every door to make it happen. My speech was to be five minutes long, I knew If I could get the first word out and memorize the speech
my built up emotional energy would carry through to the judges.


Once my speech was written and memorized, on three occasions I set my alarm for 4:00 AM, went down four flights of stairs to the auditorium, turned the lights on and practiced my delivery. My starting to speak was very difficult so I used a technique to leave the choice of my first word to the last second, it worked.


 I won the contest which was a confidence builder to continue my goal of being able to speak freely. At the end of my second year I was president of the students council which required me to speak in front of the student body every week.


Every year a gold medal was presented to the “MOST IMPROVED”
Student at graduation; I received it. My life was turning around.




Let’s move forward to a period when I was happily married, twenty four with a young son. We were members of a church that offered counseling.


 During the counceling session I was hypnotized and regressed to understand and relieve past negative emotional experiences. After several sessions my anxiety level of speaking decreased, my confidence was higher and I no longer had a stuttering problem.




I was now working with IBM servicing machines which were the forerunners of the powerful mainframes we have today. I was hooked on being a better speaker, joined Toastmasters, bought books on making effective presentations and accepted every invitation .to speak at branch office functions.


There was a request to send three Canadians to the united States to learn how to help IBM customers by running one or two day seminars at their business location. I did this for many years across Canada, Brazil, Hong Kong and other locations.


Life is so much better without stuttering. I believe my problem started as a young enthusiastic child when I was not allowed to verbally express myself.


When I tried to talk at the dinner table I was told not now, later. After experiencing this many times I was afraid to talk and my stuttering started. It was not until I knew the source of the problem, relived the experiences, had catharsis to relieve the energy was I finally free.


Why am I writing this? To make me feel good, no I feel great. I am writing this to give hope to other stutterers that they may not have to live with stuttering. I have found little evidence that stutterers are having this problem fixed.


They have had guidance as to minimizing their stuttering or they have felt comfort in associating with other stutterers, but where are the success stories of being able to successfully speak anywhere any time.


One percent of the population stutters. I think too much time has been spent in advising how to live with the problem instead of keeping an open mind to alternative methods to solve the problem.
Bold statements….what do you think?

David Lay

N.



 Rob Hadley


Source-Rob's Blog

UT doctoral student aims to shatter stuttering stereotypes

Christina Gonzalez is a third-year anthropology doctoral student who stutters. Gonzalez attends the Lang Stuttering Institute where patients present speeches and learn to speak more confidently.




In elementary school, UT doctoral student Christina Gonzalez’s biggest worry wasn’t making friends in her new class — it was getting through her next word.


“I first became aware of my stutter when I was six years old and at a new school,” Gonzalez said. “It was my peers and teacher who made me cognizant of the way I speak differently. As


I grew up, my parents’ concern [for my speech] and their efforts to put me in therapy [made] it a ‘thing’ in my consciousness that I had to make stuttering something I had to overcome.”


Gonzalez, a third-year anthropology doctoral student, said she continues to stutter and at times struggles with it. Her speech has commonly generated uncomfortable looks and uneasiness from her listeners, common responses that she said have been tough to get used to since her childhood.


While in college, Gonzalez said she has sometimes felt the stress the feeling that she might not always be able to effortlessly convey her thoughts.


“It’s an anxiety-ridden experience to move through a university for a person who stutters, especially the higher up you go because there’s this expectation about what an 'expert' looks like,” Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez recently began attending the


Lang Stuttering Institute, a nonprofit research and treatment center at UT that aims to help people who stutter. Patients regularly participate in group discussions and present speeches to their counterparts.
Stuttering is widely thought to be curable or reversible.


Courtney Byrd, the Lang Stuttering Institute director and UT associate professor, said media that depicts stuttering as a largely treatable problem, such as in the film “The King’s Speech,” have it all wrong.


“Stuttering is neurophysiological in nature,” Byrd said. “The notion that there is a cure is a fallacy, and a common one. [The institute] can help young kids who stutter. We can get them to reach a level of fluency where you listen to them and you would not hear someone who stutters.


However, as you get older and you have less neuroplasticity, it’s more challenging to create a foundation of fluency.”


The Lang Stuttering Institute is able to primarily carry out its mission through volunteer efforts. Aside from Byrd and another professor, the institute is essentially run through student leaders from a variety of majors.


“Stuttering isn’t just about speech pathology,” Byrd said. “It’s about something we all struggle with. It’s about communicating and connecting with others and expressing our thoughts without having the fear of being judged.


This role entrapment and all these stereotypes and false perceptions that continue to be pervasive will no longer exist, and that it will start here, because of the efforts of our students.”


Gonzalez, who is interested in being a professor after graduate school, said she aspires to continue to do and study what she loves, living life without apprehension about how listeners might perceive her speech. She said she wants to be understood.


“This is the way I speak,” Gonzalez said. “At the end of the day, I want to be a better communicator. But it’s not just about speech. It’s about self-knowledge, self-awareness and self-mastery.


I hope I can help push against any sort of preconceived notions and stereotypes, not only of what a stutterer looks like or is but also of what a person who is accomplished in academia looks like and is.”


Source:Texan News

' Stuttering'mice shed light on human speech impediment

By Hanae Armitage



About 70 million people worldwide stutter when they speak, and it turns out humans aren’t the only ones susceptible to verbal hiccups. Scientists at this year’s Society for Neuroscience Conference in Chicago, Illinois, show that mice, too, can stumble in their vocalizations.




In humans, stuttering has long been linked to a mutation in the “housekeeping” gene Gnptab, which maintains basic levels of cellular function. To cement this curious genetic link, researchers decided to induce the Gnptab “stutter mutation” in mice.




They suspected the change would trigger a mouse version of stammering. But deciphering stuttered squeaks is no easy task, so researchers set up a computerized model to register stutters through a statistical analysis of vocalizations.




After applying the model to human speech, researchers boiled the verbal impediment down to two basic characteristics—fewer vocalizations in a given period of time and longer gaps in between each vocalization. For example, in 1 minute, stuttering humans made just 90 vocalizations compared with 125 for non-stutterers.




 Using these parameters to evaluate mouse vocalizations, researchers were able to identify stuttering mice over a 3.5-minute period. As expected, the mice carrying the mutated gene had far fewer vocalizations, with longer gaps between “speech” compared with their unmodified littermates —Gnptab mutant mice had about 80 vocalizations compared with 190 in the nonmutant mice.




The findings not only supply evidence for Gnptab’s role in stuttering, but they also show that its function remains relatively consistent across multiple species. Scientists say the genetic parallel could help reveal the neural mechanisms behind stuttering, be it squeaking or speaking.


Source:Sciencemarg.Org

Maintaining Eye Contact

If you are like many stutterers, you probably do not look people squarely in the eye when you talk to them. Chances are that if you observe yourself carefully, you will find that you usually avert your eyes, particularly when you are stuttering or anticipating a block. And by doing so, you tend to increase any feelings of shame or embarrassment you may have about your difficulty.

Maintaining eye contact will not of itself stop your stuttering, but it will help reduce feelings of shyness and tend to build self-confidence. It is this sensitivity which generates much of the tension which causes or aggravates your trouble. So this guideline calls for you to establish the habit of eye contact with your listener.1,2

This doesn’t mean that you need to stare fixedly at the person to whom you are talking, but still you should look the other person squarely in the eye more or less continuously. Establish eye contact before you begin to speak and continue to do so in a natural way. Particularly, do your best not to look away when you stutter or expect to.

It is possible that you already practice good eye contact, but more probably you are embarrassed and do not. Remember, it is difficult to observe yourself so do your best to be honest with yourself. You might ask someone with whom you converse, such as a member of your family, to watch and find out if you shift your eyes just before or when you stutter.

Perhaps you look away because you are afraid that your listener will react with pity, rejection or impatience. This is not apt to be true. Using eye contact will enable you to test the validity of your fears, and it should put your listener more at ease. Moreover, by maintaining eye contact you can demonstrate that you are accepting—not rejecting—your stuttering as a problem to be solved.3 When you look away, you are denying the problem.


Anyway, do your best to maintain good eye contact as a habit. You will feel better for doing so, as it will help you combat feelings of inferiority and self-consciousness. Therapists recommend its use in trying to help people who are shy and bashful. Interpersonal communication is always facilitated by eye contact, even if you don’t stutter.4 Good speakers use it naturally.

It is unnecessary to turn or hang your head in shame which may be what you are doing unconsciously when you avert your eyes. We hope you can develop a feeling of self-confidence that you are as good as the next person. Do your best to look the world squarely in the eye.

How to Go About Maintaining Eye Contact

Following through on this rule may represent more of a problem than you think. Many stutterers have become so shy that it is difficult for them to look anybody straight in the eye when they are stuttering. It is suggested that you double-check yourself carefully as you try the following
procedures.

Start by looking at yourself in the mirror when alone and faking an easy block. Do you keep eye contact with yourself or do you avert your eyes? Try this repeatedly, making sure that you don’t look away. Then do it when making a severe block. If you find you do not keep eye contact before and during the block, work at it until you find that you can and continue doiong it.

Then make some phone calls looking at yourself in the mirror while you are having real blocks. Watch yourself until you can talk without shifting your eyes during five or more real stutterings.5 To complete this program successfully, this is a necessary step.

As you become more sure of yourself, it will be easier for you to maintain eye contact while talking in general conversation.6 This does not mean that you have to stare fixedly or glare at your listeners, but look at them in a normal, natural way, and though they look away, continue to keep contact.

While talking to others, collect one, two, and then three occasions in which you maintain good eye contact as you are stuttering. Then make it ten occasions.

To prove that you have followed through, it is suggested you write down the names and eye colors of ten people with whom you have stuttered, or write down ten or more words on which you stuttered without losing normal, natural eye contact.

Use your ingenuity in devising other pertinent assignments. Build confidence in your ability to speak with good natural eye contact on all occasions from now on, and you will feel better for doing so. It will give you satisfaction to know that you can comply with this rule and will make you a more effective conversationalist.


1 You must acquire the ability to keep good eye contact with your listener throughout your moment of stuttering. (Van Riper)


2 Develop eye control with your audience and create a friendly atmosphere. (Barbara)


3 The value of eye contact is the effect it has on the stutterer. It almost forces him to keep the stuttering going forward through the word. It’s an assertive behavior and a positive act. It’s hard to withdraw and back off if you are holding eye contact. (Starbuck)
to maintain eye contact with your listeners. Looking away severs the communication link with your audience and convinces them that you are ashamed and disgusted with the way you talk. (Moses)


5 Read a sentence, look up into the mirror, paraphrase the sentence while maintaining eye contact. (Adler)


6 Be sure you don’t look down or away at the moment of stuttering. Some people will look away no matter how much you try to keep contact. To succeed it is sufficient that you look at them.
Source:Stuttering foundation of America.