By:Robert Remler
Stuttering for 45 years is as much fun as playing tennis with a whiffle ball.
But therapy does make it easier. Plus, there are a variety of techniques to choose from.
Some therapies have the stutterer practice a distinctive pattern of breathing. Others ask the stutterer to stretch the first vowel of each word. Still others encourage the person to forcibly stutter on words.
"It is known there are certain ways of trying to produce a word that will help you say the word more easily," said Heather Grossman, coordinator of speech and language services at Hofstra University. "For example, if you try to stretch the vowel or if you pause in-between words."
Learning technique is a small part of the therapeutic process, said Grossman. "A greater point of the therapy is a combination of getting a person to understand themselves and their own stuttering."
Teaching stutterers to desensitize themselves and those around them to their stuttering is the current strategy for many speech therapists. The goal is to get stutterers to understand how stuttering fits into their lives and not make it more of a problem than it is, said Grossman.
Instead of being fearful about speaking situations, stutterers should be upfront about those fears. "I do have a problem with stuttering," Grossman suggested a stutterer should say. "You may hear me stuttering, which doesn't mean I don't know what I'm saying. It's just that I am a little nervous today."
Frequently, a stutterer will encounter 'a bad day,' which means the stutter will be even more noticeable. When that happens, the stutterer might consider saying: "Just bear with me and try not to fill in my words," Grossman said.
"Therapy almost always does improve a person's fluency," said Grossman. "But, fluency really isn't the goal of therapy."
Grossman believes that people who stutter overvalue fluency. Too often stutterers delude themselves with the impact that fluency will have in their life. Grossman compared the process to wanting to shed pounds just to improve one's social life. "It's not that simple," she said. "You have to see stuttering for what it is, as well as for what it is not."
Heather Parris-Fitzpatrick, a speech and voice coach, knows that motivation plays a dominant role in therapeutic process. "It takes a great deal of motivation and desire," said Parris-Fitzpatrick, of Long Beach. " The people who succeed are the ones who are open to disciplining themselves when the therapist is not there."
Angela Tencza, a speech and language pathologist at Mercy Medical Center in Rockville Centre, knows the reasons for stuttering is varied and inconclusive. "There are a bunch of theories as to why people stutter," she said. Theories range from developmental psychological factors to neurological. "Once the stuttering episode occurs, there are psychological aspects to it, such as nervousness and anxiety," she said. "But, during physiological studies, the larynx tends to become tight and stiff."
Tencza agreed with Grossman that a stutterer should adopt a strategy to desensitize listeners. "I have things to say, so give me the opportunity," is one of the lines she suggests using.
(B) Important numbers and Web site (UB)
(N) Mercy Medical Center Speech and Language department: (516) 705-2631
(N) Hofstra University Speech, Language and Hearing Center:
(516) 463-5656
(N) www.StutteringFoundation.com
(B) Lectures and meetings (UB)
(B) The A. Holly Patterson Care Facility (UB) associated with Nassau University Medical Center seeks volunteers to serve meals, transport residents and assist in recreational activities. You must be at least 15 years old. For more information, call (516) 572-1496. ... There will be a Teddy Bear Hospital Day at (B) Nassau University Medical Center (UB) in East Meadow, starting 10 a.m. Saturday, June 9. For information, call (516) 572-6055. ... The 12th annual HIV Symposium will be 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 12, at the (B) Nassau University Medical Center, (UB) focusing on care strategies. For information, call (516) 572-4867. ...(B) Adelphi University (UB) hosts a lecture about "The Human Side of Cancer" at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 24. Reservations required. Call (516) 877-4325. ...(B) North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System (UB) in Great Neck sponsors five free lectures in May as part of the Women's Wellness Programs. An arthritis update is at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 10, in the 1 South conference room. "Lasers for Medical and Cosmetic Dermatology" is the topic at 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 15, in the first-floor board room. Women and heart disease is the subject 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 16, inside the teaching center, room 201. Summer skin issues will be discussed at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 17, in the Shankman Auditorium. Thyroid disease in women will be the focus at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 24, in the Pratt Auditorium. For more information about the lectures, call (516) 465-2500 or visit: www.northshorelij.com. ... (B) North Shore University Hospital, Center for Extended Care (UB) hosts a free workshop sponsored by the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America at 7:15 p.m. Friday, May 18. The focus will be on school-age children with asthma. The workshop will be in the first-floor conference room. For information, call (516) 625-5735. ... (B) Winthrop-University Hospital (UB) in Mineola hosts six lectures in May. An infant and child CPR lecture is at 7 p.m. May 14 and May 15. "Perspectives in Health" is also a topic at 7 p.m. May 15. "Parenting Today" is scheduled for 7 p.m. May 16. A Totsaver course starts at 9 a.m. May 19. A lecture on stroke awareness is at 7 a.m. May 22. Common behavioral problems in toddlers will be discussed at 7 p.m. May 23. Each lecture takes place at the hospital, either at 259 First Street or 101 Mineola Blvd. For details, call (516) 663-4455.
