Bouncing Ball
Life is like a ball. When you hit it harder, it will bounce higher.
Anatomy of a Stutter
New findings from brain studies and genetics are illuminating the causes of this ancient affliction
In the end, scientists hope their findings will help debunk stereotypes and stigmas, even among stutterers themselves. "People who stutter are relieved to find out that they are not crazy, that they don't have a defective personality," says Janis Ingham. "To know `my brain is different than yours but my soul isn't' is a tremendous thing."
The stuttering brain
Sluggishness in the brain's auditory cortex and hyperactivity in the speech center may both contribute to the disorder. Activity in the brain's visual area-not involved in speaking--is identical in stutterers and nonstutterers.
[PET scan data are not available.]
[Scan key] Highly active areas; Relatively inactive areas
PET scans taken while reading aloud
Speech-producing area Auditory area Visual area
Nonstutterer Inactive Active Active
Stutterer Hyperactive Less active Active
Source: University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
An etiquette guide
How to make conversation with a stutterer a less frustrating experience for everyone involved:
Patience and pacing. The cardinal rule is never finish a stutterer's sentence. It's insulting--and even worse when the completed sentence is wrong. Also, use a relaxed pace in your own speech, but never so slow as to sound unnatural.
Body language. Use natural eye contact and facial gestures to show you're listening. Also, be aware of the special difficulty of phone conversation, in which such cues are missing.
No advice. Avoid remarks like "slow down," "take a deep breath," or "relax." Such simplistic, often demeaning advice doesn't help a stutterer.
Famous stutterers
1. Jack Welch
General Electric's CEO beat expectations. "Here was this short, stuttering guy who only knew the plastics business," says a former GE exec.
2. John Updike
The author chose to express himself in writing because, when he stuttered, his upper lip hardened and his mouth distorted like "a leather purse being cinched."
3. Marilyn Monroe
Her breathy voice may have been an attempt to be fluent rather than sexy.
4. James Earl Jones
He discovered in high school that he could overcome stuttering by reciting Shakespeare or Edgar Allan Poe.
5. Moses
His brother, Aaron, spoke for him because, as he told God in Exodus, "I am not eloquent. . . . I am slow of speech and of a slow tongue."
6. Carly Simon
She felt so strangled when talking that she "did the natural thing, which is to write songs, because I could sing without stammering."
7. Winston Churchill
His teacher warned: "Because of his stuttering he should be discouraged from trying to follow in his father's political footsteps."
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Syllables first
After years of speech therapy, 13-year-old Stephen Essman entered an intensive program at Hollins Communications Research Institute in Roanoke, Va. The goal, says his mother, Marti, was "to fix the problem and then see what happens to his anxiety."
Mall challenges
As part of a 19-day treatment for stutterers, Jack Braha, 21, tested his new speaking skills by asking for assistance at a local shopping mall. A budding investment banker, he wants to refine his speech for the high-stress, highflying atmosphere of Wall Street.
