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From: Alan Badmington (to Holly)
Date: 10/13/02
Time: 1:03:34 PM
Remote Name: 195.92.67.71
Hi Holly,
I became well aware of the phenomenon of successfully speaking in unison, prior to reading any material about the subject. Somehow I just discovered that my problem(s) disappeared when I read (or even talked) at the same time as someone else. Although I had made use of it previously, giving my wedding vows was the first major test.
One theory is that stutterers’ brains show a lack of auditory feedback (that is the loop that usually plays their own voices back to them is under-active). It is claimed that when persons who stutter (PWS) read in chorus with others, their difficulties abate, probably because the auditory feedback is supplied by the other reader(s).
With regard to my own wedding vows, I prefer my own reasoning that (in my eyes) I was no longer the centre of attention. I also feel that the fact that I was divorced from the sound of my own voice (and all the accompanying negative emotions) was a contributory factor.
I was interested to learn that your friend succeeded in giving his vows when his bride caringly mouthed the words in his view. Indeed, I have also utilized that ruse. I recall that one night (many years ago) I submitted a humorous verse to a TV station that was running a ‘live’ limerick competition. At about 11-30pm, I received a telephone call from the presenter inviting me to read my rhyme aloud on the air. I screamed upstairs to Babs who had already retired to bed.
Wiping the sleep from her eyes, she rushed to my aid. Within seconds, she was sitting opposite me and whispering (or really mouthing) the words as I recited my poetic offering to the whole of the Welsh nation (well, those who were still viewing at that late hour). Everything went perfectly and my five-line entry was hailed as ‘Limerick of the Week’.
We PWS are so ingenious at devising ploys to cope with our speech problems. Hey! maybe I’ll patent the idea. What do you think?
Kindest regards
Alan Badmington