Posted on 12/17/2016 7:34:51 AM PST by Kaslin
This is a great article on John Glenn, now deceased, with a focus on Annie, his wife of 73 years, who had a severe stutter.
For most of her life, Annie was afflicted with an 85 percent stutter, meaning she would become "hung up on 85 percent of the words she tried to speak, which was a severe handicap," as John put it.Those years must have been torture for Annie.
Some of the inconveniences might seem small. John recalled them:
For Annie, stuttering meant not being able to take a taxi because she would have to write out the address and give it to the driver because she couldn't get the words out. It would be too embarrassing to try to talk about where she wanted to go. Going to the store is a tremendously difficult and frustrating experience when you can't find what you want and can't ask the clerk because you are too embarrassed of your stutter.Others were large. As The Post reported, once her daughter stepped on a nail. As blood gushed out, Annie couldn't speak well enough to call 911. Instead, she found a neighbor to make the call for her.
My own stutter as a youngster was much less severe, more on the order of Jonathan Miller's: "When I got out of bed in the morning, I never knew which consonant was going to be my nemesis that day." Although frequent, my stutter was usually not disabling, but it was always embarrassing. I would call a girl's house, intending to ask her mother, "Can I speak to Suzie, please?" and I'd get stuck on the C: "C-c-c-c-c..." The mother would shout over the phone, "Suzie! I think it's Jim!"
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
A teleprompter.
The worst thing about stuttering is that in a nation of “sensitivity” and “inclusivity”, this is the only handicap that people can use to discriminate against you and even make fun of you and everyone laughs.
It sure fixed that arrogant pos occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave’s stutter
The article doesn’t state what method Mrs. Glenn used. The kitty joke at the end was funny.
The Glenn article cited in the article briefly describes the treatment.
Mel Tillis used to sing the things that were important in order to make himself understood over his stutter.
It sure doesn’t and I laughed over the kitty joke
My late Dad was a lifelong stutterer. He was always conscious and somewhat embarrassed by it, and he could never really tell when it would happen. As a stupid kid it embarrassed me too, sometimes. Dad had a beautiful singing voice and would often be called on to sing solo at our church, which he could do without any stuttering problems. He and Mom were avid Square Dancers. At some point he decided he would like to start “calling” square dances, just because he loved the music, the energy, and the people that he was square dancing with. He went on to be a nationally known square dance caller and traveled all over the country making people happy with his calling. He never once stuttered while he was singing, but would occasionally when speaking to the crowds giving instructions or introductions. He never really overcame the stutter but it diminished over the years, so square dance calling was good for him. I miss them both. Sorry for the vanity...
From the page this article links to.
Finally, about 20 years ago, we were watching the Today show, and a professor, Ron Webster, was talking about the success of his new theory and treatment for stuttering. I turned to Annie, and said, "You should try this because it's brand new." She agreed, and went down to Webster's three-week course in Roanoke, VA. It literally changed her life.
In her first week, she learned how to speak in slow, short syllables. During the second week, they gradually sped up the rate at which she spoke, working on sounds that are particularly difficult for stutterers. The third week is a continuation of the work learned in the first two weeks. Annie reached a point where she could represent me in speeches, and speak for others with handicaps. She will always have to work on her speech, but with her courage and determination she overcomes the disability every day with phone calls and normal conversation.
I’m not sure I agree with you on that, but let’s agree on this - anyone who makes fun of stutterers deserves a serious beat down. Stutterers deserve our sympathy, not ridicule.
My daughter didnt talk until she was 5 because of a brain injury. When she did talk it still took her a long time to learn how to say things.
At 20, she still gets stumped with longer words.
We know real discrimination. The public schools were the worst! They treated her like she was mentally retarded. They wanted to dumb down her education, and didnt want to privide her with enough speech therapy.
We switched her to a private school with a multi-sensory reading program for dyslexia and then put her in private speech therapy. She has a 4.0 after 3 semesters of college. I don’t think she’s mentally retarted!
I’m very thankful that most people text. My daughter still has a hard time speaking on the phone. I do get worried about her using 911 because her speech is worse when she’s stressed, and I think it would be bad in an emergency situation.
A beautiful story. Thanks for posting!
I have known a few stutterers, including one whose stutter was so severe she often would get stuck on nearly every word, and for a long time. I have always been patient, not because I like waiting around for a long time to hear what a person is going to say, but because I understand that it’s beyond their control and they are doing the best they can. I noticed that in a meeting, she stuttered about 10 times as much (maybe more) than when it was just the two of us talking. So I assume that stress can make stuttering much, much worse.
Have you ever had the experience of getting feedback on your phone and hearing yourself say everything a second time with a short time delay? I am pretty sure that a similar thing is going on in the brain of a stutterer. It is VERY hard to keep talking!
Also, stuttering is often caused when a parent or teacher forces a left-handed child to use his/her right hand instead.
>>I’m not sure I agree with you on that, but let’s agree on this - anyone who makes fun of stutterers deserves a serious beat down. Stutterers deserve our sympathy, not ridicule.
Sympathy, not ridicule? You’re not a stutterer, are you? We would really prefer something in between the two.
I admit I am less sympathetic to people who talk like this:
"The president - the president - uhhhh - the president -- he he he he, you know, the president -- he just -- he just -- he just -- well .. if - if - if if -- "
I don't even know if that is considered a true stutter. I consider it a symptom of being extremely inarticulate. But perhaps I should be more sympathetic. Obama does it. I work with people who do it. A lot. I really dislike it.
As a former minor league coach and batting practice pitcher, I attended a morning meeting with the players and coaches where the team manager announced a new pitcher would be joining us tomorrow. He added that the guy had a very severe stutter and anyone that mocked that guy would suffer severe consequences. Later that summer the pitcher came into the coaches locker room to tell one of the coaches something, but nothing came out. The coach said, “sing it to me” and it was perfect communications. The pitcher eventually ended up with Major League playing time.
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