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Wednesday 30 May 2018

Stuttering

Stutterers are people who have a speech disorder in which the flow of speech is disrupted by involuntary repetitions and prolongations of sounds, syllables, words or phrases, and involuntary silent pauses or blocks during which the stutterer is unable to produce sounds.

Stuttering and stammering are not quite the same: a stutter is an involuntary repetition of one letter, while a stammer is any speech-slowing defect.

The ancient Greek Demosthenes stuttered and was inarticulate as a youth, yet, through dedicated practice, using methods such as placing pebbles in his mouth, became a great orator of Ancient Greece.

Greek orator Demosthenes practicing oratory at the beach with pebbles in his mouth

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was one of the 30% of stutterers who have an associated speech disorder—a lisp in his case—yet led his nation through World War II.

King George VI was so embarrassed by his stutter that he hired speech-language pathologist Lionel Logue and greatly improved his public speaking.

Country singer Mel Tillis stutters when talking but not when singing.


German actor Dieter Thomas Heck started stuttering after being trapped under a staircase after a bombing raid in World War II.

American actor James Earl Jones had a severe stutter as a child and refused to speak in school.

English comedian Rowan Atkinson incorporates his stuttering into his work by using over-articulation to overcome problematic consonants.

Golfer Tiger Woods stuttered as a child and used to talk to his dog until he fell asleep in an effort to get rid of it.

Bruce Willis had severe stuttering problems as a child. He discovered the stutter disappeared while performing in a school play through the memorization of lines. While studying acting in college it was the combination of acting and speech therapy which helped him overcome his condition.

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