A successful talk I gave this evening to the Leighton-Linslade Rotary Club on behalf of The British Stammering Association. About my personal experiences with stuttering, the work of the BSA and how to help someone who stammers.
I'm happy to talk to other Rotary Clubs!
12. Thank you. Questions? The British Stammering Association www.stammering.org Helpline - 0845 603 2001 Nick Freear www.freear.org.uk delicious.com/nfreear/stammer
Editor's Notes
Lyric from a song, "...But sometimes I get nervous and s-start to stutter / And I f-fumble every word I utter ...", DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince / Jacobs; Mayberry, K; Pierce, M; Smith ... (1993), http://mnsu.edu/comdis/kuster/media/songs.html#Boom The British Stammering Association - http://stammering.org/ Rotary Club of Leighton-Linslade - http://s104648028.websitehome.co.uk/
Image "B-DNA", Creative Commons licensed (CC)-by-nc-sa, http://flickr.com/photos/dullhunk/439737690/ Also, http://flickr.com/photos/djbrokenwindow/1907455584/ You can make anything from Lego, http://stargazersfield.com/159 “ Stammering Genes”, February 2010 – new research published - doi:10.1056/NEJMoa0902630 http://stammering.org/news_genestudy.html http://stammering.org/research_links.html
(Cartoon, Copyright British Stammering Association, used with permission.) Cartoon from, http://stammering.org/educating_teacher.html Also "Fluntering", http://stammering.org/fluntering.html
Creative Commons license. (Old) newspaper advert, " Do not stammer. Cured six years, Mr. Elwyn Steck ..."
Not CC licensed :( " If you stammer... 1. It's curable, so don't worry... " - Personally, I would say there is no cure for an adult stammer.
Ice-bergs are a common metaphor in speech therapy - most of the "stammer" is hidden - that is, emotions, thoughts... Charles Van Riper, American Speech Therapist and person with stammer, “ stuttering is everything we do trying not to stutter. ” http://flickr.com/photos/28261360@N06/2724887150 + Wikimedia Commons Also, http://starstore.com/acatalog/iceberg-poster.jpg
"Open All Hours" was a BBC sitcom written by Roy Clarke, featuring a shop keeper Arkwright (Ronnie Barker) who stammered. (Nick: I actually really like/respect Ronnie Barker, David Jason and this sitcom, but common depictions of a person who stammers are in comedies, and as "weak" characters - this makes many people uncomfortable.) Photograph source, http://www.mrbsemporium.com/Newsletter_Jun09.htm
This quote attributed to Moses has led some to speculate that he had a stammer. However, recent research suggests some other speech impediment. Also, "Speech is human, silence is divine, yet also brutish and dead: therefore we must learn both arts", attr. Thomas Carlyle (Scot. historian), 1791-1881.
Taken from the BSA web site: http://stammering.org/about_bsa.html Advocacy, eg. BSA contribution to the Speakers' Conference (UK Gov.) http://www.parliament.uk/about/how/principal/speaker/speakers_conference.cfm Eg. Number 10 (Downing Street) reception - BSA and Stuttering Foundation of America, Sarah Brown, Ed Balls and others, http://stutteringhelp.org/?tabid=791
The British Stammering Association home page http://www.stammering.org
My personal top 10 dos and don't s when meeting someone who stammers. "Don't panic!" - it's not a fit/ stroke...! ...Perhaps try to help - if it looks like I'm tiring! (Some people with stammers may not take kindly to this, no matter how tired they look!) Ask/ talk – teachers may like to ask children who stammer how they can help, but you should accept that young people (even older people) may not be comfortable acknowledging their stammer. In return, I'll try to be open about my stammer, and try to put you at your ease. Badge/ image, Jim Linwood/ CC-by ("Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy" reference) http://flickr.com/photos/brighton/2153602543/
Links: http://stammering.org/ http://delicious.com/nfreear/stammer http://freear.org.uk Copyright: Except where stated, use under a Creative Common Attribution-Noncommercial-Share-alike license, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/ BSA logo, Copyright The British Stammering Association, used with permission. Disclaimer: Views expressed here and in my talk are my own personal views, not those of the British Stammering Association - Nick Freear.