Stuttering Awareness Week

So I know you totally remember, but just thought I’d remind you all that the week after next, the second week of May, is Stuttering Awareness Week, which means that for a week you have to try to make fun of me as much as possible whenever I stutter and make sure to notice and be aware of it at all times. RECOGNIZE

In honor of this as well my past-life persona Notker of St. Gall — patron saint of children who stutter and musicians, “Delicate of body but not of mind, stuttering of tongue but not of intellect, pushing boldly forward in things Divine,” — I’m posting the following informational rundown of the glorious affliction known as stuttering (or stammering on the other side of the Atlantic). Read at your leisure, you still have a couple weeks:

From Wikipedia:

Stuttering

Stuttering is a speech disorder in which the flow of speech is disrupted by involuntary repetitions and prolongations of sounds, syllables, words or phrases; and involuntary silent pauses or blocks in which the stutterer is unable to produce sounds.

The term stuttering is most commonly associated with involuntary sound repetition, but it also encompasses the abnormal hesitation or pausing before speech, referred to by stutterers as blocks, and the prolongation of certain sounds, usually vowels. Much of what constitutes “stuttering” cannot be observed by the listener; this includes such things as sound and word fears, situational fears, anxiety, tension, self-pity, stress, shame, and a feeling of “loss of control” during speech. The emotional state of the individual who stutters in response to the stuttering often constitutes the most difficult aspect of the disorder. The term “stuttering”, as popularly used, covers a wide spectrum of severity: it may encompass individuals with barely perceptible impediments, for whom the disorder is largely cosmetic, as well as others with extremely severe symptoms, for whom the problem can effectively prevent most oral communication.

Stuttering is generally not a problem with the physical production of speech sounds or putting thoughts into words. Despite popular perceptions to the contrary, stuttering does not affect and has no bearing on intelligence. Apart from their speech impairment, people who stutter are normal. Anxiety, low confidence, nervousness, and stress therefore do not cause stuttering, although they are very often the result of living with a highly stigmatized disability.

The disorder is also variable, which means that in certain situations, such as talking on the telephone, the stuttering might be more severe or less, depending on the anxiety level connected with that activity. In other situations, such as singing (as with country music star Mel Tillis or pop singer Gareth Gates) or speaking alone (or reading from a script, as with actor James Earl Jones), fluency improves. (It is thought that speech production in these situations, as opposed to normal spontaneous speech, may involve a different neurological function.) Some very mild stutterers, such as Bob Newhart, have used the disorder to their advantage, although more severe stutterers very often face serious hurdles in their social and professional lives. Although the exact etiology of stuttering is unknown, both genetics and neurophysiology are thought to contribute. Although there are many treatments and speech therapy techniques available that may help increase fluency in some stutterers, there is essentially no “cure” for the disorder at present.

Stuttering and Society

For centuries stuttering has often featured prominently in both popular culture and in society at large. Because of the unusual-sounding speech that is produced, as well as the behaviors and attitudes that accompany a stutter, stuttering has frequently been a subject of scientific interest, curiosity, discrimination, and ridicule. Stuttering was, and essentially still is, a riddle with a long history of interest and speculation into its causes and cures. Stutterers can be traced back centuries to the likes of Demosthenes, Aesop, and Aristotle—some interpret a passage of the Bible to indicate Moses also to have been a stutterer.5 Misinformation and superstition have influenced society’s perceptions of the causes and remedies of a stutter, as well as the intelligence and perceived disposition of people afflicted with the disorder.

Ancient views of stuttering

For centuries “cures” such as speaking with a pebble in the mouth (as per the legendary orator Demosthenes), consistently drinking water from a snail shell for the rest of one’s life, “hitting a stutterer in the face when the weather is cloudy”, strengthening the tongue as a muscle, and various herbal remedies were often used6 ; clearly to little effect.

Similarly, in the past people have subscribed to various theories about the causes of stuttering which today one might consider odd. Proposed causes of stuttering have included tickling an infant too much, eating improperly during breastfeeding, allowing an infant to look in the mirror, cutting a child’s hair before the child spoke his or her first words, having too small a tongue, or the “work of the devil.”3

Roman physicians attributed stuttering to an imbalance of the four bodily humors: yellow bile, blood, black bile, and phlegm. Humoral manipulation continued to be a dominant treatment for stuttering until the eighteenth century. Italian pathologist Giovanni Morgagni attributed stuttering to deviations in the hyoid bone, a conclusion he came to via autopsy. Later in the century, surgical intervention, via resection of a triangular wedge from the posterior tongue to prevent spasms of the tongue, was also tried.

Discrimination

In addition to personal feelings of shame or anxiety, outside discrimination is still a significant problem for stutterers. The vast majority of stutterers experience or have experienced bullying, harassment, or ridicule to some degree during their school years from both peers and teachers who do not understand the condition.11 It can be especially difficult for stutterers to form friendships or romantic relationships, both because stutterers may avoid social exposure and because non-stutterers may find the disorder unattractive. The stigma of stuttering carries over into the workplace, often resulting in severe employment discrimination against stutterers. Consequently, stuttering has been legally classified as a disability in many parts of the world, affording stutterers the same protection from wrongful discrimination as for people with other disabilities. The UK Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 both expressly protect stutterers from wrongful dismissal or discrimination.

Along with disability legislation, many stutterer rights groups have formed to address these issues. One interesting example is the Turkish Association of Disabled Persons, which successfully appealed to the major Turkish telephone company Telsim, resulting in reduced rates for people with stutters or other speech disabilities because of the additional time it takes them to converse on the telephone.[4] Also, the U.S. Congress passed a resolution in May 1988 designating the second week of May as Stuttering Awareness Week, while International Stuttering Awareness Day, or ISAD, is held internationally on October 22. In September 2005, ISAD was recognised and supported by over 30 Members of the European Parliament (MEPS) at a reception given by the European League of Stuttering Associations.

Even though public awareness of stuttering has improved markedly over the years, misconceptions are still very common, usually reinforced by inaccurate media portrayals of stuttering and by various folk myths. A 2002 study focusing on college-age students and conducted by University of Minnesota Duluth found that a large majority viewed the cause of stuttering as either nervousness or low self-confidence, and many recommended simply “slowing down” as the best course of action for recovery. While these misconceptions are damaging and may actually worsen the symptoms of stuttering, groups and organizations are making significant progress towards a greater public awareness.

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