Stutterers are often tense in a public setting, especially when it comes to public speaking. I know how it feels to experience virtually every embarrassment that people who stutter often experience! One day we will eventually find the cure for stuttering; I will definitely pursue the cure for stuttering. But for now I think a merry heart does good like medicine and let us take a comedy look at what we stutterers can learn from the animal kingdom!
A--ant: we can be slow at times but we will eventually get there
B--bear: listening to us can potentially send you into hibernation
C--cheetah: sometimes we just need to slow down
D--deer: tell me about the, "deer in a headlight," experience! (public speaking)
E--elephant: trying to get these trunk of words out
F--firefly: now you see me, now you don't; now you hear me, now you don't!
G--goat: may-may-may-may-may, sounds too familiar perfecting the art of repetition!
H--horse: Gallup, Gallup, Gallup--just slow down!
I--Iguana: crawling along but we will get there
J--jaguar: spotted cat, spotted words!
K--Kangaroo: keep on hopping over my words!
L--lion: trying to display courage under fire in a public setting is not easy!
M--mouse: we keep avoiding the "cat," lets go for the "cheese," and let the world know that
we are high achievers!
N--night hawk: still AVOIDING daylight!
O--owl: we covert stutterers are still living in the dark!
P--Parrot: we actually can talk folks, just give us a chance
Q--quail: aren't we suppose to fly?
R--rhinoceros: remember, "don't judge a book by its cover."
S--squirrel: where is the tree when you need it!
T--turtle: I think I can; I think I can!
U--urchin: the wheels are slowly turning
V--viceroy: we don't have the option of changing our names when called upon!
W--whale: public speaking for stutterers!
X-- x-ray fish: can you "see" what I am taking about!
Y--yak: do I really sound like that!
Z--zebra: stars and strips; no, what about repetition and repetition
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Monday, December 28, 2009
MTV produced "True Life" story on stuttering
MTV did a video on depicting the true life struggles of people who stutter in a video called, "True Life." I think it is a very fascinating story because it highlights some of the obstacles that people who stutter has to face and try to overcome as they adjust to a life with living with stuttering!
The story involved three young adults: Caryn age 20, Jessica age 20 and Tim age 23. Caryn is what we called a "covert stutterer" ( a stutterer who conceals his or her stuttering from people around); covert stutterers can use techniques such as word substitution (often called circumlocutions using a stuttering vernacular) and avoidance to camouflage his or her stuttering. However, covert stuttering has its limit and sooner or later the "800 pound guerrilla," will show its ugly head. Stuttering, especially for covert stutterers can be an "800 pound guerrilla," because sooner or later one has to introduce himself or herself in the setting of school, work or on the phone etc. Caryn, through therapy realized that being true to yourself in letting others be aware of your stuttering is the best thing to do; consequently, we see her display "courage under fire," on the subway train when she gets up and says, I am Caryn and I stutter. Caryn also admitted to her friends that she is afflicted with the stuttering disorder. There is an old saying that, "the truth hurts but it will set you free."
Tim on the other hand has a severe stuttering and this level of stuttering interferes with his ability to get a job. He is on the verge of getting kicked out of his apartment, has virtually no food in his apartment and is on the phone trying to see if anyone is hiring; there is only one problem--he stutters so badly that people on the other end of the phone usually hangs up on him! He gets frustrated and finally called one of his friends to make phone calls for him to inquire about jobs! Tim finally went to inquire about a bar tending job; although he stutterers severely the supervisor (manager) decided that people need a chance to prove themselves regardless of their disability and decides to give Tim a chance because of his determination and highly motivation to succeed! Tim said, "I am going to work really hard to show them that they made the right choice." Tim proved that if at first you don't succeed then try, try and try again.
Jessica is competing in a beauty pageant and she has some insecurities in her ability to represent herself among the contestants secondary to her speech impediment! However, she is determined to succeed despite her stuttering defect and with the help of support from family, friends and the National Stuttering Association she overcame her phobia of stuttering and decide to talk about stuttering as her platform issue in the pageant contest. Although he did not win, he learned a valuable lesson: embraced your fears and be yourself, even though others may vote against you. Remember its all about fighting the good fight, running the race and keeping your faith.
Here is the linked to the video watch it and give me your thoughts:
www.mtv.com/true-life-i-stutter-stutters-try-to-cope-with-their-speech-issues
The story involved three young adults: Caryn age 20, Jessica age 20 and Tim age 23. Caryn is what we called a "covert stutterer" ( a stutterer who conceals his or her stuttering from people around); covert stutterers can use techniques such as word substitution (often called circumlocutions using a stuttering vernacular) and avoidance to camouflage his or her stuttering. However, covert stuttering has its limit and sooner or later the "800 pound guerrilla," will show its ugly head. Stuttering, especially for covert stutterers can be an "800 pound guerrilla," because sooner or later one has to introduce himself or herself in the setting of school, work or on the phone etc. Caryn, through therapy realized that being true to yourself in letting others be aware of your stuttering is the best thing to do; consequently, we see her display "courage under fire," on the subway train when she gets up and says, I am Caryn and I stutter. Caryn also admitted to her friends that she is afflicted with the stuttering disorder. There is an old saying that, "the truth hurts but it will set you free."
Tim on the other hand has a severe stuttering and this level of stuttering interferes with his ability to get a job. He is on the verge of getting kicked out of his apartment, has virtually no food in his apartment and is on the phone trying to see if anyone is hiring; there is only one problem--he stutters so badly that people on the other end of the phone usually hangs up on him! He gets frustrated and finally called one of his friends to make phone calls for him to inquire about jobs! Tim finally went to inquire about a bar tending job; although he stutterers severely the supervisor (manager) decided that people need a chance to prove themselves regardless of their disability and decides to give Tim a chance because of his determination and highly motivation to succeed! Tim said, "I am going to work really hard to show them that they made the right choice." Tim proved that if at first you don't succeed then try, try and try again.
Jessica is competing in a beauty pageant and she has some insecurities in her ability to represent herself among the contestants secondary to her speech impediment! However, she is determined to succeed despite her stuttering defect and with the help of support from family, friends and the National Stuttering Association she overcame her phobia of stuttering and decide to talk about stuttering as her platform issue in the pageant contest. Although he did not win, he learned a valuable lesson: embraced your fears and be yourself, even though others may vote against you. Remember its all about fighting the good fight, running the race and keeping your faith.
Here is the linked to the video watch it and give me your thoughts:
www.mtv.com/true-life-i-stutter-stutters-try-to-cope-with-their-speech-issues
Sunday, December 27, 2009
TRANSCENDING STUTTERING
There is a video called, "Transcending Stuttering," produced and directed by Dr. Phil Schneider (professor of speech language pathology). In Transcending Stuttering, seven people who stutter tell their story of living with stuttering throughout their lives; it is a powerful and emotionally charging testimony and I urge and encourage every stutterer to watch the video. The video was also shown an PBS. I met Dr. Schneider at Brooklyn College secondary to my stuttering support group inviting him as a guest speaker. Dr. Schneider, is not a stutterer himself but has counselled and treated many stutterers over the years; he really has a genuine concern in making a difference in the lives of people who stutter.
I first watched the video (Transcending Stuttering) in my 3rd year of medical school. I was feeling very depressed after giving a public presentation during one of my medical school "Morning Report," presentation at the hospital (Tulsa Regional Medical Center now called Oklahoma State University Medical Center). I had to present a topic infront of Attending Physicians, Residents, Medical Students and other health care professionals. I had so much stutter that manifested itself in the form of "blocks." Although it wasn't funny at the time in retrospect, a friend of mine said, "Mike I guess with all that many "blocks," you could have built a house!" The presentation was suppose to be a 7 minute presentation and it ended up being about 20 minutes long. I wanted to quit medicine; I felt like a total idiot. Nevertheless, I was encouraged by an attending physician called Dr. Randall Reust (who happened to be the coordinator of the core rotations at Tulsa Regional Medical Center for the medical students).
I went home that day and was browsing through the internet for anything about stuttering that would encourage me; that is when I first encountered "Transcending Stuttering." It blessed me so much that day and let me realized that I am not alone in the emotional pain that stuttering often generate. I hope that the video ("Transcending Stuttering") will bless you too as you watch it. Here is the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zi4y8Wg01fU
In case that does not work, just go to youtube and type in Transcending Stuttering.
I first watched the video (Transcending Stuttering) in my 3rd year of medical school. I was feeling very depressed after giving a public presentation during one of my medical school "Morning Report," presentation at the hospital (Tulsa Regional Medical Center now called Oklahoma State University Medical Center). I had to present a topic infront of Attending Physicians, Residents, Medical Students and other health care professionals. I had so much stutter that manifested itself in the form of "blocks." Although it wasn't funny at the time in retrospect, a friend of mine said, "Mike I guess with all that many "blocks," you could have built a house!" The presentation was suppose to be a 7 minute presentation and it ended up being about 20 minutes long. I wanted to quit medicine; I felt like a total idiot. Nevertheless, I was encouraged by an attending physician called Dr. Randall Reust (who happened to be the coordinator of the core rotations at Tulsa Regional Medical Center for the medical students).
I went home that day and was browsing through the internet for anything about stuttering that would encourage me; that is when I first encountered "Transcending Stuttering." It blessed me so much that day and let me realized that I am not alone in the emotional pain that stuttering often generate. I hope that the video ("Transcending Stuttering") will bless you too as you watch it. Here is the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zi4y8Wg01fU
In case that does not work, just go to youtube and type in Transcending Stuttering.
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Did you know that there is a Biological Stuttering Clinic on the campus of University California at Irvine?
In my 4th year of medical school, I was invited to the University California at Irvine in Orange County California by Dr. Gerald Maguire. Dr. Maguire (has also stuttered since childhood) was the former Program Director of the psychiatry resident program at UCI for many years. He has been a guest on CNN and other news programs . He is one of the leading international experts on stuttering. Dr. Maguire through his research has demonstrated that people who stutter has an excess of dopamine in their brain compare to people who do not stutter. Dopamine is a brain chemical (neurotransmitter). Dopamine is produce by an area of the brain called the substantia nigra (pars compacta portion) which is located in the midbrain (which is one of the components of the brain stem--the other two components being the pons and the medulla oblangata). Dopamine plays on important role in the functioning of the basal ganglia (located in the subcortical region of the brain and consists of: substantia nigra, subthalamus nuclei, the striatum--caudate/putamen, and the globus pallidus which all help in the initiation of movement)which connects to the cerebral cortex and thalamus. When the levels of dopamine is deficient people can end up with Parkinsons disease and when it is in excess disease like Huntington disease can be manifested.
Well, through his research Dr. Maguire has also established that an excess of dopamine in the brain is one of many factors that trigger the stuttering mechanisms; to this end he has used certain anti-dopaminergic drugs ( such as olanzapine (zyprexa), geodon (ziprasidone), abilify (aripiprazole) in his Biological Stuttering Clinic (on the UCI campus) to decrease the levels of dopamine in people who stutter. Many stutters have visited his clinic from all over the USA for treatment and the results are usually quite promising. I have witnessed several people who stutter came to his clinic for therapy and the results demonstrated a dramatic improvement in their stuttering. These anti-dopaminergic drugs have less side effects than the traditionally potent ones (like halopiridol).
Dr. Maguire is currently the lead researcher working on a drug called pagoclone to treat stuttering and it could be the first FDA drug approve to treat stuttering! Feel free to check out addition information on this study at: www.stutteringstudy.com
Well, through his research Dr. Maguire has also established that an excess of dopamine in the brain is one of many factors that trigger the stuttering mechanisms; to this end he has used certain anti-dopaminergic drugs ( such as olanzapine (zyprexa), geodon (ziprasidone), abilify (aripiprazole) in his Biological Stuttering Clinic (on the UCI campus) to decrease the levels of dopamine in people who stutter. Many stutters have visited his clinic from all over the USA for treatment and the results are usually quite promising. I have witnessed several people who stutter came to his clinic for therapy and the results demonstrated a dramatic improvement in their stuttering. These anti-dopaminergic drugs have less side effects than the traditionally potent ones (like halopiridol).
Dr. Maguire is currently the lead researcher working on a drug called pagoclone to treat stuttering and it could be the first FDA drug approve to treat stuttering! Feel free to check out addition information on this study at: www.stutteringstudy.com
Friday, December 25, 2009
Famous People who stuttered (s)
Religion:
*Moses (the Bible Prophet)
*Oral Roberts ( one of the most influential healing evangelist of the 20th century)
Politics
*Joseph Biden (Vice President of USA)
*King George VI
*Sir Winston Churchill
*Anne Glenn (wife of former astronaut and US Senator John Glenn)
*Congressman Frank Wolf from Virginia
*Demosthenes (Athenian, said to be the greatest Greek orator of ancient times)
Science
*Isaac Newtown
*Charles Darwin
*Robert Boyle
*Alan Rabinowitz (explorer, conservationist, zoologist)
Sports
*Ron Harper (former ChicagoBulls player)
*Kenyon Martin (former New Jersey Nets player)
*Bo Jackson (former major league baseball player)
*Bob Love (former Chicago Bulls player)
*Tiger Woods
*Bill Walton (former NBA player)
*Ken Venturi (legendary Golfer)
*Darren Sproles (NFL player for Sanfrancisco Charger)
*Lester Hayes (former NFL player for the LA Raiders)
*Tommy John (former major league baseball playerfor the Oakland A's and Yankees))
Medicine
*Gerald Maguire (psychiatrist, University California at Irvine)
*Michael Henry Grandison (Jamaican
Actors/Actress
*James Earl Jones
*Julia Roberts
*Eric Roberts (brother of Julia Roberts)
*Marilyn Monroe
*Bruce Willis
*Jimmy Stewart
*Anthony Quinn
*Jane Seymour (British actress)
*Byron Pitts (CBS news journalist)
Business
*Jack Welch (former chairman of General Electrics)
*Authur Blankk (owner of Atlanta Hawks )
*Walter Wriston (former chairman of Citibank/Citicorp
Journalism
*John Stossel (former 20/20 host; now Fox news anchor)
Music
*Mel Tillis
*B.B. King
Literature
*John Updike (author)
This is just a sample. More notable stutterers are listed at www.stutteringhelp.org
*Moses (the Bible Prophet)
*Oral Roberts ( one of the most influential healing evangelist of the 20th century)
Politics
*Joseph Biden (Vice President of USA)
*King George VI
*Sir Winston Churchill
*Anne Glenn (wife of former astronaut and US Senator John Glenn)
*Congressman Frank Wolf from Virginia
*Demosthenes (Athenian, said to be the greatest Greek orator of ancient times)
Science
*Isaac Newtown
*Charles Darwin
*Robert Boyle
*Alan Rabinowitz (explorer, conservationist, zoologist)
Sports
*Ron Harper (former ChicagoBulls player)
*Kenyon Martin (former New Jersey Nets player)
*Bo Jackson (former major league baseball player)
*Bob Love (former Chicago Bulls player)
*Tiger Woods
*Bill Walton (former NBA player)
*Ken Venturi (legendary Golfer)
*Darren Sproles (NFL player for Sanfrancisco Charger)
*Lester Hayes (former NFL player for the LA Raiders)
*Tommy John (former major league baseball playerfor the Oakland A's and Yankees))
Medicine
*Gerald Maguire (psychiatrist, University California at Irvine)
*Michael Henry Grandison (Jamaican
Actors/Actress
*James Earl Jones
*Julia Roberts
*Eric Roberts (brother of Julia Roberts)
*Marilyn Monroe
*Bruce Willis
*Jimmy Stewart
*Anthony Quinn
*Jane Seymour (British actress)
*Byron Pitts (CBS news journalist)
Business
*Jack Welch (former chairman of General Electrics)
*Authur Blankk (owner of Atlanta Hawks )
*Walter Wriston (former chairman of Citibank/Citicorp
Journalism
*John Stossel (former 20/20 host; now Fox news anchor)
Music
*Mel Tillis
*B.B. King
Literature
*John Updike (author)
This is just a sample. More notable stutterers are listed at www.stutteringhelp.org
Thursday, December 24, 2009
My World Of Stuttering
Greetings! Stuttering (as it is called in the USA) or Stammering (as it is called in Great Britain) can be a very emotionally painful disorder. First, there are different kinds of stuttering but the one being described here is developmental stuttering that usually begins around the age of 2 to 5. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSMVI--which is essentially the "bible," for psychological disorder/illness) described stuttering as disturbance in the normal fluency and time patterning of speech (inappropriate for the individual's age) characterized by frequent occurrences of one or more of the following:
*sound and syllable repititions
*sound prolongations
*interjections
*broken words (pausing within a word)
*audible or silent blocking (filled or unfilled pausing in speech)
*circumlocutions (word substitutions to avoid problematic words)
*words produced with an excess of physical tention
*monosyllabic whole-word repetitions
*the disturbance in fluency interferes with academic or occupational achievement or with social
communication
*If a speech-motor or sensory deficit is present, the speech difficulties are in excess of those
usually associated with these problems.
Stuttering affects roughly 1% of the populations (about 3 million in the USA) and 4x as much boys than girls are affected. It has been said that about 80% of stutterers recover by the age of 16 and those who don't (the remaining 20%) goes on to become adult stuterers, like myself.
My journey of stuttering began when I was about 3 years old in Jamaica. As I grew up and attend elementary school in Jamaica (May Pen Primary, Clarendon) I became more so aware of my stuttering because kids made fun of stutterers in general! I am going to spare you the long stories of embarrassment throughout my life as a result of stuttering but there were many. I thought my dream of becoming a physician would never be realized. My parents sent me to the USA at age 14 to realized this dream and after much struggled through Newtown High School (New York), Rollins College (Winter Park, Florida), Oral Roberts University (Tulsa, Oklahoma), Oklahoma State School of Osteopathic Medicine (Tulsa, Oklahoma), Completed first year of Internal Medicine (Oklahoma University Health Science Center), became a license physician in Oklahoma and will be license in the State of New York I prevailed.
I have won many battles against stuttering but the war is not over yet. I am currently a member of the National Stuttering Association, am writing a book on my own personal journey with stuttering, and would like to finish up my Neurology Residency that I started and took a break from 8/2009. I want to encouraged all stutterers that they can become anything they want to me. The road is not going to be easy but that is indeed life in a nutshell! For me it was my faith in God that sustained me the most during some of the most difficult times--and there were many. This is just an introduction to you all--my first blog on here! I hope to communicate with you all more in the days and weeks ahead.
*sound and syllable repititions
*sound prolongations
*interjections
*broken words (pausing within a word)
*audible or silent blocking (filled or unfilled pausing in speech)
*circumlocutions (word substitutions to avoid problematic words)
*words produced with an excess of physical tention
*monosyllabic whole-word repetitions
*the disturbance in fluency interferes with academic or occupational achievement or with social
communication
*If a speech-motor or sensory deficit is present, the speech difficulties are in excess of those
usually associated with these problems.
Stuttering affects roughly 1% of the populations (about 3 million in the USA) and 4x as much boys than girls are affected. It has been said that about 80% of stutterers recover by the age of 16 and those who don't (the remaining 20%) goes on to become adult stuterers, like myself.
My journey of stuttering began when I was about 3 years old in Jamaica. As I grew up and attend elementary school in Jamaica (May Pen Primary, Clarendon) I became more so aware of my stuttering because kids made fun of stutterers in general! I am going to spare you the long stories of embarrassment throughout my life as a result of stuttering but there were many. I thought my dream of becoming a physician would never be realized. My parents sent me to the USA at age 14 to realized this dream and after much struggled through Newtown High School (New York), Rollins College (Winter Park, Florida), Oral Roberts University (Tulsa, Oklahoma), Oklahoma State School of Osteopathic Medicine (Tulsa, Oklahoma), Completed first year of Internal Medicine (Oklahoma University Health Science Center), became a license physician in Oklahoma and will be license in the State of New York I prevailed.
I have won many battles against stuttering but the war is not over yet. I am currently a member of the National Stuttering Association, am writing a book on my own personal journey with stuttering, and would like to finish up my Neurology Residency that I started and took a break from 8/2009. I want to encouraged all stutterers that they can become anything they want to me. The road is not going to be easy but that is indeed life in a nutshell! For me it was my faith in God that sustained me the most during some of the most difficult times--and there were many. This is just an introduction to you all--my first blog on here! I hope to communicate with you all more in the days and weeks ahead.
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