By Lee Reeves, DVM
This post includes a few of the main points in a presentation I developed decades ago, entitled "Stuttering 101." Below, I will describe some history that resonated with me and my interpretation of how it relates to contemporary times in the stuttering world.
When I was growing up, I had five different speech therapists. In one way or another, they all told me the same thing: "We do not know what causes stuttering, and there is no cure." In retrospect, I wonder how those two facts affected my feelings about being "less than" and about feeling helpless with my stuttering. While most of my therapy occurred in an educational setting, my SLPs never educated me about stuttering (other than to focus on my own struggles). Looking back, I wonder if there would have been a positive impact of knowing more about my condition.
My wife lovingly refers to me as a "stutter nerd." I love to read history, and I love to read about stuttering. As the title of this blog suggests, the history of stuttering is rich and fascinating. Teaching children and caregivers about ancient theories and treatments can help de-mystify both past and present understanding of stuttering. Is there value in learning about historical figures and what they did to study, confront, or manage stuttering? I believe so. Knowledge is power, and I wish I had more of it when I was young.
Before I review some history, let me request that you ask yourself, "How much do my students truly know about stuttering?" Hopefully, they have learned about the speech machine, the anatomical components of the communication system, and how their voices work. You may have also shown them a poster of famous people (mostly dead) who stuttered. Now comes a query you may never have considered, "How much do they know about the rich and fascinating history of their condition?"
It started in the caves.
Have your students seen this fantastic depiction of stuttering discovered on a cave wall in Egypt over 5000 years ago? [used with permission, personal correspondence with Dr. Walt Manning]
Remember, read right to left, as they did at the time. Do you see what I see? - repetitions and blocks impeding human speech? Read the caption and be amazed!
Aristotle
Aristotle was one of the most brilliant minds of his time. As he attempted to understand his own stuttering, he wrote these words in approximately 350 BC.
"Why do those who hesitate in their speech become worse when they are nervous? Is it because their condition is a state resembling apoplexy of some interior part of the body which they cannot move and which by its coldness hinders their speech?" [sic]
-And-
"Why are those who hesitate in their speech melancholic? Is it because melancholy is due to their responding too quickly to the imagination? Now this is a characteristic of those who hesitate in their speech; for the impulse to speak outstrips their power to do so, the mind responding too quickly to that which is presented to it".
Isn't it amazing how Aristotle describes being stuck, (apoplexy)? Doesn't his thinking about the relationship between stuttering and emotions (nervousness or melancholy) correspond to how your students might feel today?
Dieffenbach
As far as medical treatments are concerned, your students might find it interesting (or grotesque) to learn about the horrible surgery for stuttering prescribed by the German surgeon Johann Dieffenbach. Even before the invention of anesthesia or antibiotics, this physician actually tried to cure stuttering by cutting out a deep wedge at the base of a stutterer's tongue!
Darwin
To end this brief review, I bring you Charles Darwin's grandfather, Erasmus Darwin. Did you know both of these brilliant minds stuttered? In 1796, Erasmus Darwin proposed the following therapy and cure.
"The art of curing this defect is to cause the stammerer to repeat the word which he finds difficult to speak, eight or ten times without the initial letter, in a strong voice, or with an aspirate before it, as 'arable' or 'harable;' and at length to speak it softly with the initial letter 'P, 'parable.' This should be practiced for weeks or months upon every word which the stammerer hesitates in pronouncing. To this should be added much commerce with mankind, in order to acquire a carelessness about the opinions of others."
While the skills part of this ancient treatment suggestion loosely resembles contemporary skills such as easy onsets or light articulatory contacts, the most critical feature of Darwin's suggestions (in my opinion) is his recommendation to have "much commerce with mankind, in order to acquire a carelessness about the opinions of others." What a unique and often overlooked component of any therapy for stuttering!
I view this recommendation from Darwin as "TALK, TALK, TALK, and let the listeners deal with stuttering - without worrying about their opinions."
These examples are just a tiny sampling of the rich and fascinating history of stuttering. Learning about them can create opportunities for you to help your students explore their own beliefs and feelings about stuttering. In addition, and perhaps even more importantly, your students can learn that they are not alone--and they are certainly not "less than."
References
Bobrick, B. (1996). Knotted tongues: Stuttering in history and the quest for a cure. Simon & Schuster.
Hunt, H. (1861). "Stammering and Stuttering, Their Nature and Treatment." Longman, Green, Longman, & Roberts, Inc.
Manning, W. H. (2010). Clinical decision making in fluency disorders. (3rd ed.). Cengage Learning.
