Stuttering Web Page
By: John W
About my stuttering:
Hi my name is John. I have been stuttering since I
was four. I stutter like th-th-th-this. My speech teacher is Miss Kristin. I am
nine years old and I manage my stuttering very well.
Facts about stuttering:
Over three million Americans stutter.
Stuttering happens more in boys than girls: 85%
are males.
We don't know the actual cause of stuttering.
People who stutter can usually sing, whisper,
or speak in unison without stuttering.
There are lots of different ways to stutter.
Kids who stutter are not different in any way
from kids who don't (except for the way they talk)
My favorite myths: What causes stuttering?
Allowing a baby to look in the mirror.
Cutting a child's hair before he/she says his/her
first words.
A mother seeing a snake during pregnancy.
Tickling a baby too much.
Leaving a baby out in the rain.
Having too short of a tongue.
The child being scared as a baby.
Switching hands from left to right for writing.
A pregnant woman drinking from a cracked cup.
My favorite myths: Ways to cure stuttering
Telling the child not to move his/her feet while
talking.
Hitting the child in the mouth with a dish
towel.
Have the child hold nutmeg under his/her tongue
while talking.
Whisper for one week, louder the next, and
whisper even louder until the stuttering is gone.
Talk with a penny under your tongue.
Put three marbles under your tongue while
talking.
Famous people who stutter:
King George VI
Bill Walton: Basketball player
Winston Churchill
Aesop: Greek
Clara Barton: Founder of the Red Cross
General Joshua Chamberlain: Hero of the Battle
of Gettysburg
King Charles I
Claudius: A Roman Emperor
Harley Earl: A great car designer
Moses: From the bible
Henry Luce: Founder of Time and Sports
Illustrated Magazines
Joseph Priestly: An English chemist who
discovered oxygen
Alan Turing: Founder of computer science
Horace Grant: Orlando Magic
Porky Pig
Ron Harper: Chicago Bulls
Bob Love: Chicago Bulls
Isaac Newton
Speech tools & how they help:
A tool is something that helps us make talking
easier. The first tool that comes to mind for me would be an "easy
B". An "easy B' means an easier beginning. That is where you start
the first word of a sentence smoothly and you let the rest go. A pull-out is
when you stay with the letter you are stuck on and then ease out of it when you
can. Canceling is when you get stuck and you stop and start over with an easy
beginning. When you use canceling you can also use wait time. That's when you
stop and wait. You can use a signal like holding your finger up to let the
listener know you're not done talking yet. Chunking is when you say sentences
in two or three parts and you pause in the middle of the parts. Easy bouncing
is when you stutter easily on purpose. Eye contact is when you and the other
person look in each others eyes when talking and listening. These tools take
alot of practice.
Ways people stutter:
There are lots of ways people stutter. Sometimes they
block when they try to say something and nothing comes out. Sometimes they
repeat a whole word or a sound (like like like like this or li li li li li
that). Sometimes they might prolong a sound (l-----------ike that). Some people
don't say what they want to say. They do this because they don't want people to
know that they stutter. Sometimes they don't talk or they substitute one word
for another if it's hard to say. No two people stutter in the same way.
Ways kids help stuttering:
Some kids go to speech therapy. They work on
tools that help make talking easier. They also learn alot about stuttering and
talking. Some kids go to the National Stuttering Association convention every
summer. Some kids teach their teachers about stuttering. Some kids even make
classroom presentations about stuttering.
Ways parents & teachers can help kids who stutter:
"Do's":
1. Always keep eye contact
2. Be a good listener
3. Tell the person it's O.K. to stutter (in
private if you think it would help them)
4. Find out how they feel about talking at
school and at home.
"Don'ts":
1. Finish a sound, word, or sentence that the
person is stuttering on.
2. Tease people because they stutter.
3. Tell kids to use their speech tools.
4. Make a big deal about it because a person
stutters.