Famous stutterers
• Actor James Earl Jones
• Winston Churchill, British politician and statesman
• Bill Walton, NBA Hall of Famer and sports commentator
• Kenyon Martin, NBA star
• Actress Marilyn Monroe
• Country singer Mel Tillis
• Singer Carly Simon
• Ken Venturi, legendary golfer and former CBS Sports commentator
In the opening scenes of The King’s Speech, the young Prince of York, who would later become King of England, nervously walked to a microphone to address the nation in a live broadcast in 1925.
The prince, or Bertie, as his family called him, who had a severe stuttering problem, clearly was terrified, as if he was about to face a firing squad.
I empathize with him.
As a person who stutters, I’ve experienced that feeling more times than I care to remember. It’s been documented that people’s No. 1 fear is public speaking. But for me and others who stutter, that fear quadruples, depending on the severity of the stutter and the environment.
The film stars Colin Firth. It’s about the life of England’s King George VI, the bond he formed with his unorthodox Australian speech therapist Lionel Logue — played by Geoffrey Rush — and King George VI’s reluctant accession to the throne after his brother abdicates. He had no desire to be king because of his speech impediment.
The King’s Speech, which was nominated for 12 Academy Awards, is the only mainstream film I know of that seriously tackles stuttering. It accurately shows the human side of the disability and the fears and struggles people who stutter face each day.
Affects 3 million in U.S.
One percent of the world’s population stutters, including 3 million in the United States. It tends to affect four times more males than females, according to the National Stuttering Association.
It’s unclear what causes stuttering, and there’s no cure for it. However, those who are unfamiliar with the disability assume that talking fast, not breathing or a heavy tongue causes stuttering. Some even think it’s a mental illness.
I’ve also encountered people who had the audacity to think that I stuttered because I was intimidated by them. But it was my fear of stuttering that they sensed.
Stuttering is far more complicated than breathing or rapid speech, said Heidi Williams, who has been my speech therapist on and off the past five years.
“There’s something going on in the brain, but we don’t know where or what,” she said, adding that it doesn’t affect one’s ability to think. Stutters are competent and know what they want to say. They simply have trouble giving it voice.
As a young prince, Bertie was ridiculed, and his father, King George V, often yelled at him when he had difficulties speaking. He also avoided the spotlight.
Several scenes in the movie resonated with me. They reminded me of my struggles with stuttering. For instance, in the film, a speech therapist instructed Bertie to fill his mouth with marbles and attempt to speak. Another advised him that smoking cigarettes would help relax his throat, and he’d be fluent.
That was in the early 1900s in England, which, by standards of the day, was a developed nation.
In contrast, I grew up in Liberia, an underdeveloped nation in West Africa founded by freed American slaves in the 1800s. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, my mother did all she could to “cure” my stuttering.
No therapists
There weren’t any speech therapists in the country; we didn’t know they existed. In essence, my mother was my speech therapist. She’d advise me to slow down, take a deep breath or take my time when I’d stutter.
She also took advice from a “medicine man,” who brought us “special” water that would cure my stuttering.
Like Bertie’s family, my mother had good intentions. But why anyone thought putting marbles in someone’s mouth or so-called special water would cure stuttering is beyond me. However, it speaks to the fact that historically, people know little about the disability, even today.
Stuttering can cause embarrassment, which leads to anxieties about speaking and a fear of stuttering itself. That fear causes us to stutter more, as young Bertie experienced during that 1925 address to his nation. Like Bertie did early in his life, people with a severe stutter often avoid situations in which they’d have to speak. I’m guilty of it, although I don’t do it as much as I used to.
I’ve had years of speech therapy, which has helped my stuttering a great deal. It’s also given me confidence and, with encouragement from therapists like Williams, I’ve intentionally put myself in uncomfortable situations to force myself to speak.
Additionally, I use SpeechEasy, an auditory feedback device that fits into my ear like a hearing aid when speaking in public or giving briefings. Coupled with my fluency techniques, it helps reduce stuttering.
As a journalist and an Army officer — I am a member of the Ohio Army National Guard — I’m required to talk to people and give briefings. So therapy has been helpful.
The fear
But I still have trouble at times. I dread meetings or conferences at which everyone has to go around the room and introduce themselves. The fear that I will stutter sets in and the anxiety builds up. Instead of butterflies, I feel as if killer bees are buzzing in my stomach.
That’s because I’ve always had trouble with words beginning with vowels. My name begins with an “I.”
On my difficult days, I’d keep quiet during meetings, sometimes it’s easier to say, “I don’t know,” than stutter through an explanation.
Even with the difficulties, I decided a long time ago that stuttering was not going to deter me. But I’m also a realist. I know the chances of me being a radio announcer or broadcast reporter are slim.
Still, others have overcome their stuttering problem to become broadcasters or go into other professions in which they are required to be in the limelight. Journalist Byron Pitts, the CBS news chief national correspondent and 60 Minutes contributor, comes to mind. Vice President Joe Biden, who has been in politics for decades, also stutters.
As a sports intern at the Chicago Tribune more than 10 years ago, I had the opportunity to interview former Chicago Bulls great Bob Love, who had a severe stuttering problem.
Because of his speech impediment, his life “hit rock bottom” shortly after his basketball career. Employers would not hire him because of his stutter. However, the Bulls hired him as their community relations director after some intensive speech therapy. He’s now one of the most sought-after speakers.
I also have friends who have become lawyers, doctors and teachers, despite their speech impediment.
For them and for me it has been a lifelong struggle simply to talk, an activity most people take for granted.
But, like Bertie, it has made me stronger.
Ismail Turay Jr. is the News-Sun city editor.
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