Stuttering
07-02-2004, 09:18 AM
Stutterers find support at annual convention
500 attend for camaraderie, information on treatments
By David Kohn
Sun Staff
Originally published June 26, 2004
Every day, Jackson Montalbano worries about speaking -- whether his words will flow easily or get stuck in that shadowy place between his brain and tongue. Jackson, 10, has stuttered most of his life and, like almost all stutterers, faces constant anxiety.
This week, for the first time he can remember, Jackson's angst took a holiday. Not because he has stopped stuttering, but rather because he is surrounded by others with the same condition. Jackson is one of more than 500 stutterers who have been in Baltimore since Thursday for the annual convention of the National Stuttering Association, the disorder's largest U.S. support group.
"I'm not used to hearing people stutter to me," said Jackson, who lives in Lemont, Ill., where he doesn't know any other stutterers. "That's cool. I've never experienced that before."
The gathering, which concludes today at the Wyndham hotel on Fayette Street, provides stutterers with three days of camaraderie and a chance to learn about the latest treatments and research.
Yesterday's keynote speaker was Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr., a Delaware Democrat, who recalled his struggles with the condition and encouraged stutterers not to limit themselves.
Stuttering -- a tendency to get stuck on certain sounds and repeat them spasmodically -- affects about 1 percent of the population, about 3 million Americans.
It generally appears between the ages of 2 and 3, when children's ability to speak speeds up. Males account for 75 percent of those with the condition. Although there is no cure for it, many stutterers improve through treatments including intensive speech therapy and devices that give instantaneous aural feedback.
Scientists don't know what causes stuttering, which is not surprising given that they haven't unraveled the act of speaking normally.
"We know a lot about how we understand language, but we don't know a lot about how we produce speech," said University of Maryland speech pathologist Nan Bernstein Ratner, an expert on stuttering.
More than 50 people -- stutterers, their parents, and speech pathologists -- squeezed into a small conference room yesterday to hear Ratner talk about the most recent research.
Stuttering was long thought to be a psychological condition triggered by excessive anxiety. Many speech scientists saw parental pressure and emotional trauma as the key causes.
But most researchers now think the condition stems from problems with brain circuitry. New studies suggest that there might be a faulty connection between two brain regions -- the area that stores and creates language, and the part that controls production of sound.
Even so, Ratner pointed out that fear of speaking plays an important if secondary role for many stutterers, exacerbating their problems.
"Society seems to find stuttering absolutely unacceptable," she said. "Other people's responses are definitely part of the disorder."
For many, the convention was less about learning and more about connecting.
"For once in your life, you're in the majority," said seminar leader Russ Hicks, talking to a group of about 50 first-time attendees. "By all means, take advantage: Stutter! Don't blow this opportunity."
Hicks, who leads the association's Dallas chapter, exhorted members to talk to as many other stutterers as possible, and he half-seriously advised avoiding sleep until the conference was over.
Among the first-timers was 19-year-old David Chambers of Louisville, Ky. A few hours into the conference Thursday, he said he felt a bond with the others.
"I might not know them, but in a way, I already know them," said Chambers, who just finished his freshman year at Western Kentucky University. Beyond meeting other stutterers, Chambers hoped to learn more about new therapies. He plans to be a teacher and hopes to improve the fluency of his speech.
Those who had attended previous conferences spoke of the event in reverent terms.
Detroit resident Sarah Dowgiallo, 28, who went to her first gathering five years ago, said, "I left that conference on a whole new level of life. There's an unconditional acceptance. I never feel that outside."
Dowgiallo said getting involved with the association transformed her life. She quit her job as an accountant, a profession she had chosen because it required little conversation. She's now a real estate broker and spends her days talking to clients and making cold calls.
For many, the conference serves as a huge group therapy session. "There's so much crying that goes on at these things," Dowgiallo said.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-md.stutter26jun26,0,2685947.story?coll=bal-local-headlines
500 attend for camaraderie, information on treatments
By David Kohn
Sun Staff
Originally published June 26, 2004
Every day, Jackson Montalbano worries about speaking -- whether his words will flow easily or get stuck in that shadowy place between his brain and tongue. Jackson, 10, has stuttered most of his life and, like almost all stutterers, faces constant anxiety.
This week, for the first time he can remember, Jackson's angst took a holiday. Not because he has stopped stuttering, but rather because he is surrounded by others with the same condition. Jackson is one of more than 500 stutterers who have been in Baltimore since Thursday for the annual convention of the National Stuttering Association, the disorder's largest U.S. support group.
"I'm not used to hearing people stutter to me," said Jackson, who lives in Lemont, Ill., where he doesn't know any other stutterers. "That's cool. I've never experienced that before."
The gathering, which concludes today at the Wyndham hotel on Fayette Street, provides stutterers with three days of camaraderie and a chance to learn about the latest treatments and research.
Yesterday's keynote speaker was Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr., a Delaware Democrat, who recalled his struggles with the condition and encouraged stutterers not to limit themselves.
Stuttering -- a tendency to get stuck on certain sounds and repeat them spasmodically -- affects about 1 percent of the population, about 3 million Americans.
It generally appears between the ages of 2 and 3, when children's ability to speak speeds up. Males account for 75 percent of those with the condition. Although there is no cure for it, many stutterers improve through treatments including intensive speech therapy and devices that give instantaneous aural feedback.
Scientists don't know what causes stuttering, which is not surprising given that they haven't unraveled the act of speaking normally.
"We know a lot about how we understand language, but we don't know a lot about how we produce speech," said University of Maryland speech pathologist Nan Bernstein Ratner, an expert on stuttering.
More than 50 people -- stutterers, their parents, and speech pathologists -- squeezed into a small conference room yesterday to hear Ratner talk about the most recent research.
Stuttering was long thought to be a psychological condition triggered by excessive anxiety. Many speech scientists saw parental pressure and emotional trauma as the key causes.
But most researchers now think the condition stems from problems with brain circuitry. New studies suggest that there might be a faulty connection between two brain regions -- the area that stores and creates language, and the part that controls production of sound.
Even so, Ratner pointed out that fear of speaking plays an important if secondary role for many stutterers, exacerbating their problems.
"Society seems to find stuttering absolutely unacceptable," she said. "Other people's responses are definitely part of the disorder."
For many, the convention was less about learning and more about connecting.
"For once in your life, you're in the majority," said seminar leader Russ Hicks, talking to a group of about 50 first-time attendees. "By all means, take advantage: Stutter! Don't blow this opportunity."
Hicks, who leads the association's Dallas chapter, exhorted members to talk to as many other stutterers as possible, and he half-seriously advised avoiding sleep until the conference was over.
Among the first-timers was 19-year-old David Chambers of Louisville, Ky. A few hours into the conference Thursday, he said he felt a bond with the others.
"I might not know them, but in a way, I already know them," said Chambers, who just finished his freshman year at Western Kentucky University. Beyond meeting other stutterers, Chambers hoped to learn more about new therapies. He plans to be a teacher and hopes to improve the fluency of his speech.
Those who had attended previous conferences spoke of the event in reverent terms.
Detroit resident Sarah Dowgiallo, 28, who went to her first gathering five years ago, said, "I left that conference on a whole new level of life. There's an unconditional acceptance. I never feel that outside."
Dowgiallo said getting involved with the association transformed her life. She quit her job as an accountant, a profession she had chosen because it required little conversation. She's now a real estate broker and spends her days talking to clients and making cold calls.
For many, the conference serves as a huge group therapy session. "There's so much crying that goes on at these things," Dowgiallo said.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-md.stutter26jun26,0,2685947.story?coll=bal-local-headlines