There are many references to stuttering (also called stammering) in popular culture. Because of the unusual-sounding speech that is produced, as well as the behaviors and attitudes that accompany a stutter, stuttering has been a subject of scientific interest, curiosity, discrimination, and ridicule.
Stuttering was, and essentially still is, a riddle with a long history of interest and speculation into its causes and cures. Stutterers can be traced back centuries to the likes of Demosthenes,[1] who tried to control his disfluency by speaking with pebbles in his mouth. The Talmud interprets Bible passages to indicate Moses was also a stutterer.[1] Partly due to a perceived lack of intelligence because of his stutter, the man who became the Roman EmperorClaudius was initially shunned from the public eye and excluded from public office.[1] His infirmity is also thought to have saved him from the fate of many other Roman nobles during the purges of Tiberius and Caligula.[citation needed]Isaac Newton, the English scientist who developed the law of gravity, also had a stutter.[2] Other famous Englishmen who stammered were King George VI[3] and Prime Minister Winston Churchill,[3] both of whom led the UK through World War II. Although George VI went through years of speech therapy for his stammer, Churchill thought that his own very mild stutter added an interesting element to his voice: "Sometimes a slight and not unpleasing stammer or impairment has been of some assistance in securing the attention of the audience..."[4] The Stuttering Foundation has a list of Famous People Who Stutter.[3]
Variable expression
The disorder is variable, which means that in certain situations, such as talking on the telephone, the stuttering might be more severe or less.[citation needed] In other situations, such as singing (as with country music star Mel Tillis or pop singer Gareth Gates) or speaking alone (or reading from a script, as with actor James Earl Jones and broadcast journalist John Stossel), fluency improves. (It is thought that speech production in these situations, as opposed to normal spontaneous speech, may involve a different neurological function.[citation needed]) Some very mild stutterers, such as Bob Newhart, have used the disorder to their advantage,[citation needed] although more severe stutterers very often face serious hurdles in their social and professional lives.
Literature
The well-known author of Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll, hoped to become a priest but was not allowed to because of his stuttering.
The well-known author of Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll, hoped to become a priest but was not allowed to because of his stuttering. In response, he wrote a poem which mentions stuttering: Learn well your grammar / And never stammer / Write well and neatly / And sing soft sweetly / Drink tea, not coffee; Never eat toffy / Eat bread with butter / Once more don't stutter. (Excerpt from Rules & Regulations) Carroll's well-known stuttering trait is subliminally referenced in Alice, which features a Dodo character in one scene. As Martin Gardner pointed out in The Annotated Alice, the bird is drawn to vaguely resemble Carroll, and Carroll often tended to say his own real last name "Do-Do-Dodgson".
A minor character in the Codex Alera series has a pronounced stutter, and it is assumed by other characters that he is simply intimidated by the situation he finds himself in. However, he soon proves that this is not the case, and that he is a brave, intelligent and resourceful young man who just happens to have a speech disfluency. After showing his competence, he is able to give reports and warnings that are taken completely seriously even though his stutter remains as strong as ever.
The author David Mitchell is a stammerer and the narrator of his novel Black Swan Green is a stammering 13-year-old boy. Various problems and work-arounds for stammerers are explored in the semi-autobiographical work.
Film
One of the most famous stuttering fictional characters is the animated cartoon character Porky Pig from the Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies theatrical cartoon series. The creators of Porky wanted a character with a "timid" voice. Originally, an actual stutterer voiced the pig, but could not control his stutter. Mel Blanc, who had no speech impairments, took over the role and affected the stutter. In 1991, the National Stuttering Project picketed Warner Bros. demanding that they stop "belittling" stutterers and instead use Porky Pig as an advocate for child stutterers. The studio eventually agreed to grant $12,000 to the Stuttering Foundation of America and released a series of public service announcement posters speaking out against bullying, featuring Porky saying "Everyone's unique and th-th-that's good, folks!".[5]
In more recent times, films such as A Fish Called Wanda (1988) and A Family Thing (1996) have dealt with contemporary reactions to and portrayals of stuttering. In A Fish Called Wanda, a lead character, played by Michael Palin, has a severe stutter and low self-esteem. His character—who is socially awkward, nervous, an animal lover, and reclusive—portrays a prevalent stereotypical image of stutterers. The three other characters in the movie generally make up the spectrum of reactions to stuttering: Jamie Lee Curtis's character is sympathetic and sees past it, John Cleese's character is polite but indifferent, and Kevin Kline's is malicious and sadistic. Upon release the film caused controversy among some stutterers who disliked the film for its portrayal of Palin's character as a pushover amid the bullying his character receives, and received favor from others who valued the film for showing the difficulties stutterers commonly face. Palin, whose father was a stutterer, stated that in playing the role he intended to show how difficult and painful stuttering can be. He also donated to various stuttering-related causes and later allowed the Michael Palin Centre for Stammering Children in London to use his name.
In the 1986 film Attention bandits!, Marie-Sophie, the main character's daughter, has a stutter.[6] The movie received acclaim for its positive portrayal of stuttering: it was presented as the heroine's distinctive trait, rather than a drawback or a source of humor.[7]
The 1983 film The Right Stuff referenced the real-life stuttering problem of John Glenn's wife Annie, and how it rendered her fearful and unwilling to do a news conference during his initial space flight. As he reported in his autobiography, John Glenn: A Memoir, and as shown on-screen in The Right Stuff, her stuttering was never a problem between the two of them, he "just thought of it as something Annie did". But she grew frustrated with it, and some years later put herself through intense speech therapy and was largely successful in masking the outward symptoms of stuttering. A proud moment for the both of them was the first public speech she gave on her experiences as a stutterer.
The novel (and film) One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest has a major character named Billy Bibbit who has a pronounced stutter. Through the story it is revealed that it has very negatively impacted his self-esteem (even leading to a suicide attempt when he stuttered through a marriage proposal and the woman laughed at him). The stutter abruptly disappears after he has sex with a prostitute that another patient smuggles on the ward.
In the 1992 comedy My Cousin Vinny, a public defender (played by Austin Pendleton) tries to cross-examine the first witness introduced by the prosecution, but has a pronounced stutter and is ineffective. He is eventually fired and replaced by Vinny.
In the film Rocket Science, the main character Hal Hefner has a stutter.
In the 1972 western The Cowboys, one of the boys riding herd for Wil Andersen, named Bob, had a severe stutter.
In the 2012 film Parental Guidance, a major character named Turner has a light stutter which he resolved with practice.
In the 2017 film It, as well as the 1986 book and 1990 miniseries, the character Bill Denbrough has a severe stuttering issue, which was described as having "got worse since his kid brother died". Throughout the movie he stutters profusely, the impairment worsening when he is scared or nervous. In the second half of the film, adult Bill has been seen to have overcome his speech impairment, but it recurs in mere seconds after Mike Hanlon calls to tell Bill the news of Pennywise's return.
In the 2006 film Buddy Boy, Aidan Gillen's character Francis deals with stuttering, isolation, poverty, and a verbally abusive mother. He helps a woman and they eventually become romantically involved. As their relationship grows, he doubts whether she truly loves him despite his flaws. A series of events happen and it is unclear whether Francis makes a discovery or is ill.
The Academy Award-winning film The King's Speech (2010) features a stuttering George VI as played by Colin Firth, based on original screenplay by David Seidler who also used to stutter as a child until age 16.
The 2015 Indian film Su.. Su... Sudhi Vathmeekam starring jayasurya had portrayed the life of a real life person who overcomes the challenges faced in life due to stammering.
An episode of the hit TV show M*A*S*H involved a stuttering soldier who was convinced he was unintelligent and constantly harassed by his fellow soldiers - and by his commanding officer. The usually pompous Major Charles Winchester (David Ogden Stiers, himself a reformed stutterer) takes it upon himself to prove the soldier is just as intelligent (if not more, since Winchester discovers the young man has a very high IQ) as the rest of his unit, even giving him a treasured copy of Moby-Dick to read. Winchester had earlier told off the CO for mocking the stuttering, threatening to report his "inhumanity". At the end of the episode, Winchester retires to his tent and listens happily to a tape-recorded letter from his sister, who is revealed to have a pronounced stutter.
Ronnie Barker's character in Open All Hours has a stutter, which sometimes gets him into trouble. His nephew mocks him for it.
On South Park, a physically disabled character named Jimmy Valmer has a severe stutter that has been used to comic effect on the show especially when he is delivering the punchline of a joke or to make otherwise inoffensive words sound offensive which can also render him unable to get a message across until it is too late.
On The Grossery Gang webseries, a battery Grossery from Series 2 named Surge has a stutter when he speaks on some words which is caused by his electric shocks.
The character Jeremy, from the late 1960s TV series Here Come the Brides and played by Bobby Sherman, is another example of a fictional stutterer on TV.
In the UK Channel 4 TV documentary series Educating Yorkshire, a pupil named Musharaf Asghar has a strong stutter.
A Happy Tree Friends character Flaky, stutters a lot, because of how nervous she is. Her mental anxiety is because of that. She fears almost everything (For example: birds, chicks, flying, swimming, water, surfing, sharks, heights, skiing, driving and death).
Music
"K-K-K-Katy" was published in 1918 by Geoffrey O'Hara and became a huge hit in wartime America, referred to as "The Sensational Stammering Song Success Sung by the Soldiers and Sailors". Anyone who had either a stutter or a lisp was covered. The song uses stuttered lyrics in every line of the chorus, and refers to the stuttering of a stereotypically bashful suitor.[citation needed]
Alvin Lucier's 1969 experimental piece I Am Sitting in a Room prominently features his stuttering, as well as making reference to it in the spoken lyrics: "I regard this activity ... as a way to smooth out any irregularities my speech might have."[citation needed]
A stylized form of stuttering has frequently appeared in popular music. Buddy Holly was a notable user of this technique in many of his songs, as well as supplementing the stutters with other verbal 'tics' and 'hiccups'. In some songs from the 1960s and 1970s the vocalist would rapidly repeat the first syllable of a word. An early example is The Who's 1965 song "My Generation", in which lead singer Roger Daltrey sings the line "Just talkin' 'bout my G-g-g-generation". In that particular case, the song's stuttering style provides a framework leading up to the sly lyric, "Why don't you just ff-ff-fffffffffade away!". The Rasmus used a similar technique in their song "F-F-F-Falling".[citation needed]
David Bowie's Changes (1971) incorporates a stutter into the chorus ("ch-ch-changes").[8]
By the early 1980s producers were creating the same effect synthetically using tape editing and sampling of lyrics. Paul Hardcastle's 1985 song "19" features it throughout in both the spoken word and vocal segments. Remixes of songs very frequently employed the effect. Starting in the 1990s stuttering effects fell out of popular use in music.[citation needed]
In 1995, stutterer Scatman John turned his problem into his asset and wrote the hit song "Scatman". Stuttering assisted him to scat sing and create incredible sounds. The lyrics are inspirational and directed at stutterers:
Everybody stutters one way or the other so check out my message to you
As a matter of fact, don't let nothin' hold you back
Placebo used a stammering man's voice on their song "Swallow" featured on their 1996 debut album, Placebo.[citation needed]
The song "For You I Will (Confidence)" by American pop singer Teddy Geiger features the line "forgive me if i st– stutter from all of the clutter in my head"[citation needed]
The lead singer of indie band Bloc Party, Kele Okereke, has a very pronounced stutter when speaking, but it is not identifiable whilst singing.[citation needed]
Though a stutterer might seem to be an unlikely radio star, Howard Stern hired a mild stutterer sight unseen ("He stutters? Hire him.") to conduct celebrity interviews. Known on The Howard Stern Show as Stuttering John, John Melendez worked for Stern for 15 years before taking a position as the announcer on The Tonight Show. Howard Stern also has a collection of frequent guests, many of whom have speech impairments of some type; while their disabilities are exploited for comedic purposes, members of The Wack Pack are well loved by Stern and his fans. Melendez is on the Stuttering Foundation's list of Famous People Who Stutter.[3]
Discrimination and awareness
In addition to personal feelings of shame or anxiety, discrimination is a significant problem for stutterers. The majority of stutterers experience or have experienced bullying, harassment, or ridicule to some degree during their school years from both peers and teachers who do not understand the condition.[10] It can be especially difficult for stutterers to form friendships or romantic relationships,[citation needed] both because stutterers may avoid social exposure and because non-stutterers may find the disorder unattractive. There is evidence of negative attitudes to people who stutter on the part of employers and the general public.[11] In a survey of people who stutter,[12] 67.6% of respondents believed their capabilities had at times been misjudged by supervisors, and 28.3% considered they had not received a job promotion due to their stutter.
Accordingly, stuttering may be legally classified as a disability in many parts of the world, affording stutterers the same protection from wrongful discrimination as for people with other disabilities.[13] Different jurisdictions have different tests and it will depend on whether these are met in the particular case. People who stutter may, for example, be protected in the U.S. by the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (and/or by state/local legislation),[14] or in Great Britain by the Equality Act 2010,[15] through the person either having a disability as defined or being 'regarded' or 'perceived' as having one. The Australian Human Rights Commission says stuttering is within the Australian Disability Discrimination Act 1992.[16] Legal protection from disability discrimination sometimes extends beyond employment discrimination, for example to provision of services and education, and may include a right to reasonable accommodation.
The U.S. Congress passed a resolution in May 1988 designating the second week of May as Stuttering Awareness Week, while International Stuttering Awareness Day (ISAD), is held internationally on October 22. In September 2005, ISAD was recognised and supported by over 30 Members of the European Parliament (MEPS) at a reception given by the European League of Stuttering Associations.
Even though public awareness of stuttering has improved markedly over the years,[citation needed] misconceptions are still common, usually reinforced by inaccurate media portrayals of stuttering and through popular misconception. A 2002 study focusing on college-age students conducted by the University of Minnesota Duluth found that a large majority viewed the cause of stuttering as either nervousness or low self-confidence, and many recommended simply "slowing down" as the best course of action for recovery.[17] While these misconceptions are damaging and may actually worsen the symptoms of stuttering, groups and organizations are making significant progress towards a greater public awareness.[citation needed]
Stuttering, also known as stammering, is a speech disorder characterized externally by involuntary repetitions and prolongations of sounds, syllables, words, or phrases as well as involuntary silent pauses called blocks in which the person who stutters is unable to produce sounds.
Porky Pig is a cartoon character in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons. He was the first character created by the studio to draw audiences based on his star power, and the animators created many critically acclaimed shorts featuring the character. Even after he was supplanted by later characters, Porky continued to be popular with moviegoers and, more importantly, the Warners directors, who recast him in numerous everyman and sidekick roles.
International Stuttering Awareness Day (ISAD), or International Stammering Awareness Day, is an annual celebration held on October 22. It was first held in the UK and Ireland, in 1998. The day is intended to raise public awareness of the issues faced by millions of people – one percent of the world's population – who stutter, or stammer.
Speech disorders, impairments, or impediments, are a type of communication disorder in which normal speech is disrupted. This can mean fluency disorders like stuttering, cluttering or lisps. Someone who is unable to speak due to a speech disorder is considered mute. Speech skills are vital to social relationships and learning, and delays or disorders that relate to developing these skills can impact individuals function. For many children and adolescents, this can present as issues with academics. Speech disorders affect roughly 11.5% of the US population, and 5% of the primary school population. Speech is a complex process that requires precise timing, nerve and muscle control, and as a result is susceptible to impairments. A person who has a stroke, an accident or birth defect may have speech and language problems.
A Fish Called Wanda is a 1988 heist comedy film directed by Charles Crichton and written by Crichton and John Cleese. It stars Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline, and Michael Palin. The film follows a gang of diamond thieves who double-cross one another to recover stolen diamonds hidden by their jailed leader. His barrister becomes a central figure – and jealousies rage – as femme fatale Wanda seduces him to locate the loot.
John Paul Larkin, known professionally as Scatman John, was an American musician. A prolific jazz pianist and vocalist for several decades, he rose to prominence during the 1990s through his fusion of scat singing and dance music. He recorded five albums, which were released between 1986 and 2002.
Beans the Cat is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. Cartoons series of cartoons from 1935–1936. Beans was the third Warner Bros cartoon character star after Bosko and Buddy. He was voiced by Billy Bletcher. He was created by director Friz Freleng. The character was featured in nine cartoons made in 1935 and 1936.
Cluttering is a speech and communication disorder characterized by a rapid rate of speech, erratic rhythm, and poor syntax or grammar, making speech difficult to understand.
"K-K-K-Katy" is a World War I-era song written by Canadian-American composer Geoffrey O'Hara in 1917 and published in 1918. The sheet music advertised it as "The Sensational Stammering Song Success Sung by the Soldiers and Sailors", as well as "The Sensational New Stammering Song" The song was first played at a garden party fund-raiser for the Red Cross in Collins Bay on Lake Ontario. O'Hara was from Chatham, Ontario, and taught music at several universities.
My Favorite Duck is a 1942 color Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon directed by Chuck Jones, in his second collaboration with writer Michael Maltese. The cartoon was released on December 5, 1942, and stars Daffy Duck and Porky Pig. It was the second color entry in the Looney Tunes series, and the first pairing of Porky and Daffy produced in Technicolor.
The Stuttering Foundation of America provides free online resources, services and support to those who stutter and their families, as well as support for research into the causes of stuttering. A 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, The Stuttering Foundation was established by Malcolm Fraser in 1947 in Memphis, Tennessee. The Stuttering Foundation provides a toll-free helpline, free printed and online resources including books, pamphlets, videos, posters, referral services, support and information for people who stutter and their families, and research into the causes of stuttering.
David Seidler was a British-American playwright and film and television writer.
The Michael Palin Centre for Stammering is a specialist centre for speech and language therapy for stammering in London, England. It officially opened in 1993 as a joint initiative between the charity Association for Research into Stammering in Childhood and the Camden & Islington Community Health Services NHS Trust. It is now run by the Whittington Health NHS Trust with support from Action for Stammering Children and the Stuttering Foundation of America. It is located in Pine Street, central London.
The King's Speech is a 2010 historical drama film directed by Tom Hooper and written by David Seidler. Colin Firth plays the future King George VI who, to cope with a stammer, sees Lionel Logue, an Australian speech and language therapist played by Geoffrey Rush. The men become friends as they work together, and after his brother abdicates the throne, the new king relies on Logue to help him make his first wartime radio broadcast upon Britain's declaration of war on Germany in 1939.
Speech and language impairment are basic categories that might be drawn in issues of communication involve hearing, speech, language, and fluency.
Lionel George Logue, was an Australian speech and language therapist and amateur stage actor who helped King George VI manage his stammer.
The Indian Stammering Association (TISA) is a public charitable trust and self-help movement for people in India who stammer. In India a person who stammers (PWS) faces stigma at home and in public, as often parents chide their children publicly, and social acceptance is not high.
The British Stammering Association (BSA), trading as Stamma since 2019, is a national membership organisation in the United Kingdom for adults and children who stammer, their friends and families, speech and language therapists and other professionals. It became a charity in 1978 and is based in London. The mission of the charity is to support anyone who stammers in the UK and tackle the stigma, ignorance and discrimination that people who stammer face so that they can live their lives in full and with dignity. It describes stammering as a neurological condition and estimates that up to 3% of adults in the UK have a stammer.
Stuttering pride is a social movement that repositions stuttering as a valuable and respectable way of speaking. The stuttering pride movement challenges the pervasive societal narrative of stuttering as a defect, repositioning stuttering as a form of vocal and linguistic diversity that enriches our language, ideas, and art forms.
↑ Spillers, Cindy. "Public Perceptions 2002". The University of Minnesota Duluth Stuttering Home Page. Archived from the original on 2005-04-08. Retrieved 2005-04-03.
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