Spring 2006
Kiwis given chance to tell world of their
lives
The New Zealand Speak Easy Association is seeking essays to enter in the International Stuttering Association’s 2007 Stuttering Essay Contest.
Speak Easy can submit up to two essays for the international contest.
Masuhiko Kawasaki, a board member of the ISA who is organising the international contest, believes it is important for people who stutter to share their ideas, feelings and experiences. The international essay contest will do this on a global scale.
Essays can be no longer than 1000 words and must make some mention of stuttering.
The judging will be based on the clarity with which a person’s experiences, feelings and ideas are expressed.
The two essays submitted from New Zealand will be published in the summer or autumn 2007 issues of Air Flow, along with other essays on stuttering that also show merit.
While the New Zealand contest is aimed at Speak Easy members, entries will also be accepted from children who stutter, their family members, speech-language therapists and any others who have perceptive things to say about stuttering.
Those wishing to enter should
send their essay to Warren Brown, 250 Te Rapa Road, Hamilton 3200, before
February 14, 2007. Essays can also be emailed to warrenbrown@actrix.gen.nz
Essay contest to aid global understanding of stuttering
board member
International Stuttering Association
I believe that one of the most important roles of stuttering self-help groups is to provide opportunities for their members to share their ideas, feelings and experiences with each other.
If a person who stutters is always disturbed by stuttering and feels isolated, the person will find it difficult to find a breakthrough. If the person reads essays written by other people who have similar experiences, the person may feel that he or she is not alone.
We all have some painful experiences in life. Through writing about our experiences, we are able to organise our thinking and broaden our perspectives. More importantly, by sharing experiences with each other we can have a more objective view of our stuttering.
The International Stuttering Association board has decided to hold an international stuttering essay contest every three years.
The contest would be held in the year before an ISA World Congress.
The ISA will recommend the stuttering essay contest to all member associations, supply the judging panel, and publish the finalist essays in One Voice and on the ISA website.
The member associations will conduct their own contests, promoting it to schools and speech-language therapists as they wish.
Judging will be based on the clarity with which an individual’s experiences, feelings and ideas are expressed.
While therapists and therapies might be mentioned, the essays will not serve as recommendations or testimonials for particular therapeutic techniques.
No prize money will be offered. However, the winner might be granted free registration to the forthcoming ISA World Congress.
The contest will be open not only to those who stutter but also to parents and siblings of children who stutter, and to spouses.
The programme of recent world conferences on stuttering certainly gave us many opportunities to hear lectures by researchers and clinicians as well as reports by self-help groups worldwide. But I have a feeling that many of those who stutter felt that they did not have much time to share their personal experiences with each other.
I believe that one of the important goals of self-help groups should be to explore ways to live fully and to grow as people who stutter, rather than seeking therapy in vain.
The contest guidelines are:
q Language: English. (Translation by computers not acceptable.)
q Length: No more than 1000 words.
q Each self-help group selects two essays in the group and emails them to ISA.
q The author’s name, self-help group’s name and country appear on the cover of the entry.
q Submission date for the first international stuttering essay contest: February 28, 2007.
q Screening method: ISA board and advisory board members will read all the essays by March 31, 2007. Each member will select three essays in early April, then the three top essays will be selected. First, second and third prizes will be determined through voting.
q All the essays submitted to ISA will be printed and displayed at the world conference in Croatia (except for the ones obviously meant for advertisement of therapy) for conference participants to read freely.
q The ISA chair will announce the winners of the top three essays at the world conference.
q Winning essays will be printed in One Voice and publicised on the ISA website
q This contest will be held during the world conference every three years.
Shinji Ito, a former board member of the ISA, commented: “I’m sure everybody will agree that sharing is one of the main objectives of self-help groups — sharing of experience, feelings and ideas.
“We proposed this stuttering essay contest from our own experience in our group (the Japan Stuttering Project), as we aim to share individuals’ experiences, feelings and ideas as persons who stutter, based on the attitude that we should accept ourselves as who we are and live fully with stuttering.”
He said those who have read
Japanese contest essays on stuttering have been deeply touched, felt empathy and
were inspired to live life to the fullest with stuttering.
This year’s International Stuttering Awareness Day theme is: “Don’t talk about us. Talk with us.”
ISAD activities on October 22 aim to change the personal effects of stuttering and alleviate ignorance about people living with stuttering.
International Stuttering Association board member Michael Sugarman said: “Individuals who stutter, who were once afraid to say their name in class, now share their common bonds with others around the world. In the last decade, the stuttering community has joined together to educate persons living with stuttering, their families and professionals, and to change the attitudes of the general public toward stuttering.”
New Zealand Speak Easy groups are planning awareness activities for October 22.
On October 1-22, the free ISAD online conference will be held at http://www.stutteringhomepage.com/ for the ninth time.
Last year’s online conference
had presentations from 19 different countries. Individuals from 83 different
countries logged on to the conference.
Therapists need reminding of Speak Easy’s role in
fluency
By Ian Taylor
president, NZ Speak Easy
This is my first opportunity to report to members since I took over the position of president of the New Zealand Speak Easy Association at the annual conference in Dunedin in April
My inquiries reveal that all branches in New Zealand are active and busy. Executive members have been communicating by telephone regularly and we will be meeting in Rotorua on September 30. If members have issues which they would like the executive to discuss, please brief your branch chairman or communicate with James Fox, our secretary.
I met with a speech-language therapist at Tauranga Hospital recently. Originally Speak Easy groups had very close relationships with speech-language therapists but unfortunately, for a variety of reasons but especially the health reforms over the last two decades, this close relationship has become tenuous in many regions. We had a very productive meeting, resulting in a better understanding of the role of Speak Easy groups in the ongoing treatment of stuttering. It is important that representatives of each branch meet regularly with your regional speech-language therapists to remind them of our role in fluency maintenance.
The New Zealand Speak Easy Conference, in Dunedin on April 28-29, was a great success and I congratulate Andrew Holyoake and his Otago branch team for organising the meeting. True southern hospitality was experienced by all who attended. An outline of the programme was published in the winter 2006 issue of Air Flow, for those who wish to refer back to it.
Stephen Hoare-Vance and the Canterbury Speak Easy group have already begun planning for the 2007 conference, to be held in Christchurch in late May. It would not be too early for branches to begin promoting the 2007 meeting and perhaps consider fundraising to send many members to Christchurch.
There are three matters relating to our recovery from stuttering for your consideration:
1. Running regular Speak Easy meetings.
Warren Brown and I attended an excellent workshop at the Australian Speak Easy Association Conference in Caloundra, Queensland, in March. Ray Potter, from the Gold Coast branch, facilitated the workshop.
He stressed that Speak Easy meetings’ objective is to improve and maintain fluency, rather than a social event. He insists the participants speak in technique at the regular meetings — and indeed at all times. Attention to reducing speaking rate is critical. His meetings begin with everyone speaking at 50 syllables a minute, gradually increasing to 200 during the meeting.
I am convinced that our fluency improves markedly when we reduce our speaking rate and deteriorates when we return to speaking at our normal rate.
Socialisation and sharing are very important for stutterers but again this must be done in technique.
2. No time to practise.
How often do you hear stutterers say they have no time to practise? If we can’t put in formal time to practise, we can practise every time we speak during our day. Every time we open our mouths is an opportunity to practise. Whether this is done in the shower, bath, at meal times, with family and friends, talking to our pets, in shops, or on the telephone, there are many occasions during our daily lives to practise technique. We have no excuse for not practising during our working day.
3. McGuire Programme.
The McGuire Programme is continuing to make a huge impact on my fluency and my life.
Another McGuire course is to be held — in Palmerston North on November 1 to 5.
Chris Bland, regional director (New Zealand) of the McGuire Programme, writes:
“Accommodation is at the Alpha Motor Inn and the course venue is at the RSA complex a few metres away. Course fees are $1985 per person; a non-refundable deposit of $385 is required with the application (special circumstances apply). Meals are not included.
“Accommodation is a twin share room with en-suite bathroom, telephone and coffee/tea making facilities. The cost of accommodation will be no more than $200 per person/twin share for the four nights — that is, $50 per person per night.”
To contact Chris Bland, phone 06 323 5313 or 027 686 9711; or email at chrisbland@xtra.co.nz
Finally, best wishes to you
all as you continue on your journey to become an eloquent speaker by facing your
fears and continuing to work on your fluency
technique.
‘Talking traveller’ going round the world in quest
for fluency
The Tauranga Speak Easy group has had a visit from a South African recovering stutterer — in New Zealand to do a McGuire course.
Hein van der Merwe, aged 24, grew up in Lydenburg, not far from Kruger National Park in the northeast of South Africa, but has more recently been living in Pretoria and working as an engineer.
When he was young, he stuttered for 12 or 13 years and didn’t have any self-confidence.
But he said his life was turned around early last year when he did a McGuire course in South Africa. Within a week, he was speaking fluently.
Because of his newfound confidence, he no longer felt fearful of going into a hotel and asking for accommodation — something that had stopped him from travelling overseas in the past. He decided to head off on a world tour, with the aim of doing 100,000 McGuire-style contacts in one to two years.
His first stop was New Zealand in May, where he attended a McGuire course in Palmerston North.
Then he stayed in Tauranga with New Zealand Speak Easy president Ian Taylor, whom he had met on the course.
After staying with relations in Auckland, he headed to Melbourne for a second McGuire course.
Next he went to Tasmania and Sydney, before heading to a McGuire course in Brisbane.
By June 26, when he flew to London via Singapore and Dubai, he had made 1507 contacts in Australia and New Zealand, including five Tauranga Speak Easy members.
Within days, he was in Dundee, Scotland, for a fourth McGuire course.
He returned to London for a month, where he worked as a pierman for Thames Clippers for two weeks — transferring people between coaches and water taxis on the River Thames. This involved talking to about 200 strangers a day and speaking into a walkie-talkie.
By July 28, he had reached 3300 contacts.
The following day, as part of a McGuire “improvement day”, he had to give a speech at Speakers’ Corner, in Hyde Park, London.
Then he headed to Ireland. In Killarney, he found the Speakeasy Bar. But it was closed at 8am so he couldn’t have a drink. Later he kissed the blarney stone — an act that is supposed to bless the kisser with seven years of eloquence.
“Amazing the trade of tourism: travel thousands of miles, pay many many pounds and kiss a rock,” Hein wrote.
In Galway, he attended a McGuire course, where Gareth Gates, a popular singer in Britain, was a course instructor.
By August 29, when he returned to London, he had reached 3815 contacts. He spent two days’ working for the London ambassador for Qatar, moving furniture and cleaning carpets.
On September 3, he headed to Oxford where he had arranged a job on a farm with a vet’s family.
While travelling, he has been
writing an online blog. Those wishing to follow his adventures and read how a
recovering stutterer is coping can do so at http://www.talkingtraveller.blog.com/
By Bruce Whitfield
of Canterbury Speak Easy
On Friday, July 14, my dear wife Nina and I paid a long-promised visit to a meeting of the Darfield Tecorians, which is a speaking group similar to Toastmasters.
The afternoon was somewhat grey and drizzly but the venue of St Joseph’s Parish new church hall was cheery and warm — as was the welcome by the members.
The only other male at the meeting was also a guest — there to adjudicate on the presentation of the one and only participant in the local branch oratory competition. A lady called Trish gave a well researched and emotive oration on recycling. Apparently nearly everybody else in the locality was tied up with rehearsing for the Kirwee Players’ production of The Pirates of Penzance.
Then it was my turn to give another rendition of a speech entitled “The unexpected benefits of . . . ” which won me the Canterbury branch and national Speak Easy oratory competitions earlier this year.
I was happy with my effort, and the audience obliged by laughing and clapping at the appropriate moments.
During the afternoon’s programme, Nina and I had the chance to introduce ourselves and take part in the table topics session. People seemed entranced to listen to Nina’s story of our romance and marriage.
At the conclusion of the meeting, I was asked if I would be willing to be a judge at the Tecorians national oratory competition, to be held in Canterbury in August. Never one to turn down a new challenge, I readily accepted. I have given only verbal judgments in the past, so having to write down what is buzzing round inside my head would be somewhat more difficult.
On Saturday, August 26, it was arranged that Nina and I would collect one of the other judges and head for the Glenroy Lodge, Glenroy, mid-Canterbury, for lunch at noon. This was to be followed at 1pm by the Tecorians national oratory competition.
It turned out one of the other judges was a nun, Sister Leonie O’Neill, who had taught Nina and her younger sister Jann, during their high school years. There was a lot of catching up to do and the two ladies chatted continuously on our 80km journey each way, leaving me literally speechless for much of the time.
Nina’s fluency was excellent during the day, which is more than I could say for mine. I was having one of my more shaky periods but I coped the best I could and resolved to put in some disciplined practice when I had analysed the situation.
Nina also met up with a familiar face at the meeting, so she socialised throughout the afternoon. I was so proud of her. Nina has become so much more outgoing during the time I have known her. She’s hardly recognisable as the person Canterbury Speak Easy members welcomed eight years ago.
There were to be seven competitors in the oratory competition but only six fronted up. I sat between the two lady judges. Somewhat nervous, and apprehensive, I listened to the first speech without writing a word on the evaluation sheet. Goodness me, what had I taken on? However, I survived the challenge and got into the swing of the task.
We judges retired to confer, select the placegetters, and take afternoon tea of scones and muffins. I managed to get in my pennyworth during the deliberations.
Surprisingly quickly we reached a unanimous verdict. Glory be!
After the certificates were presented, all the judges received a verbal thank you, a “thank you” card and a gift — mine being a bottle of red wine.
I hope the competitors found something of worth in my comments about their presentation. Once I have de-stressed, I might even accept another such invitation.
On the journey home, Nina and Sister Leonie sat in the back seat of the car and worked their way through our wedding photograph album.
I occupied myself with admiring the early blossoms and spring flowers, watching the young lambs frolic in the paddocks, catching a glimpse of a well-stocked alpaca farm and being amazed at the size of the irrigation equipment on some of the properties.
It was, indeed, another good
day to be alive.
Journey towards the holy grail of wishing to be
seen as normal
If people who stuttered came across a magical ant that granted three wishes, how many would wish for fluent speech?
This was the question that Geoff Johnston, regional director for the McGuire Programme in Australia, posed when speaking at the Australian Speak Easy Convention in Caloundra, Queensland.
Geoff said fluency was “our holy grail — our wish to be seen as normal”.
He said the word “cure” doesn’t apply to stuttering. People can only be cured of something they have — not something they do.
He told of the most dysfluent adult he had ever met. That was at the start of a McGuire course. Now the woman was a marriage celebrant in Adelaide.
For Geoff, recovering from stuttering meant being able to move forward. Sometimes it was three steps forward and two backwards. But long-term there was an improvement.
He said it was important for people who stutter to change their beliefs and perceptions about themselves. Before people could come to a state of calm (as in the Hausdorfer technique), they needed to go through a desensitisation process.
Happiness came from making many positive life changes. It was not the main focus.
He saw eloquence as an inside job.
“If it’s to be, it’s up to me.”
He said people who stutter needed to find the bravery. They had to find the strength and commitment to move forward. They had to avoid the victim role. They needed to move forward with bravery and conviction. What was needed was a different focus.
If people measured their success by fluency, they would fail, he said. The goal was not fluency. People should measure their success by technique and their enjoyment when speaking.
Geoff showed a video of himself from 1999 — stuttering at the beginning of his involvement in the McGuire Programme. He said he was trying to be fluent in the video.
Sometimes he still slipped back into dysfluent speech when caught by surprise. He said he had run into speech-language therapist Dr Susan Block on the street before the convention and had been dysfluent. It was a negative speaking experience. It had annoyed him because he had wanted to show her how fluent he was from doing the McGuire Programme. Half an hour later, he sought her out so he could “cancel” the earlier conversation.
Geoff said he was happy with his progress in improving his speech. He had seen continuous improvement.
In adults, stuttering was not a problem to do with speaking. It was a problem of communicating with others. They had a lack of confidence and a lack of self-esteem in speaking situations.
Geoff talked about the stuttering iceberg. The things shown in the iceberg above the water were blocking, facial contortions and repetitions. The things hidden in the iceberg below the water were humiliation, substitution, guilt, fear, shame, avoidance, anger, isolation and passiveness.
Then he showed the eloquence iceberg in the McGuire Programme. The things shown in the iceberg above the water were enjoyment, articulation and eye contact. The things hidden in the iceberg below the water were self-confidence, integrity, pride, happiness and high self-esteem.
Geoff said intensive courses gave good results. It was not hard to enable someone to be fluent in a short time. But the end of the course was just the start of the person’s recovery.
If people who stuttered found a speaking situation fearful, they had to face their fears and do it.
An example was the problem he used to have when ordering lunch. He would sometimes find there was a queue at the counter. He would wait until no one was in the queue. Then he would approach the counter. But by that time, the person behind the counter might be making cappuccinos. By the time she finished, there could be up to six people queued behind him, waiting to order, who would hear him stutter.
His desire for food had to be weighed against his desire to be fluent. It was an approach-avoidance conflict. He had a desire for respect, for acceptance, to be perceived as competent, to communicate quickly and to be seen as a fluent speaker. But he had a fear of being shown disrespect, of being rejected, of being perceived as incompetent, of speaking too slowly and of being seen as a stutterer.
Geoff defined fear as “False Expectation Appearing Real”.
He explained the cycle of panic: It began with confusion. It led to an approach-avoidance conflict. People then held back their emotions or speech. There was a physical block (a fight or flight response). This led to shame, guilt and self-hate. Next came struggle and efforts to avoid. It led to a fear of stuttering. The result was performance fear. The cycle of panic continued with more confusion, and so on.
People doing the McGuire Programme were taught the breathing/speaking cycle: It was pause, breathe, speak, release; pause, breathe, speak, release; and so on.
The McGuire Programme uses a sport analogy. People are told they are not victims. They are athletes. The training is for the sport of speaking.
In question time, Geoff talked about Australian tennis player Lleyton Hewitt. He has the ability to perform a top-speed lob and uses it to win matches. The reason why it is so effective is because he has practised it. He has drilled it so often that it will hold up in a tournament. People need to practise their speech to be successful at fluency.
When asked about the differences between Speak Easy and the McGuire Programme, Geoff said people had to be personally responsible for the course that they took. He believed McGuire was playing to win while Speak Easy was playing not to lose. He said in the McGuire Programme the first sound that a person makes has to be assertive. The McGuire Programme was entirely run by recovering stutterers.
Geoff said the McGuire
stuttering recovery workbook is on the Australian Speak Easy
website.
Ideas for defeating the critic
inside
The goal of the McGuire Programme was to become an eloquent speaker.
Gerry Hill, a member of the McGuire Programme in Brisbane, told a workshop at the Australian Speak Easy Convention in Caloundra, Queensland, that one of the critical goals in this process was self-actualisation. It involved realising your potential by getting to know yourself and making yourself the most positive person you could be.
Qualities of self-actualising people were: inspirational, practical, self-disciplined, positive, confident, accepted, self-respected, treating others well, commitment, genuine and promoting trust.
Gerry told a story about a brickie who became an AMP sales representative. In his first year with AMP, the man was named the company’s second most successful sales representative. But after receiving the award, the man tried to blow his brains out. He still saw himself as a brickie and couldn’t accept his success in a new career.
Gerry said the Harrison hexagon (developed from the work of an American recovered stutterer, John Harrison) was a system of how people relate to the world. At the six points of the hexagon were: beliefs, intentions, behaviours, emotions, physical state and preconceptions.
An example Gerry gave was if a person doesn’t sleep for 36 hours. He went around the Harrison hexagon to show how the effect of not sleeping on one point of the hexagon had a flow-on effect on the other five points.
The Harrison hexagon was the pillar of becoming a fully self-actualised person. All components were inter-dependent. If you affected one (either positively or negatively), you equally affected the other components.
Gerry said the key factors that led to success or failure in anything were skills (5 per cent), attitude (90 per cent) and knowledge (5 per cent). This was true for both winners and losers.
He said thoughts were one area where people could control their lives. Thoughts helped shape people’s perceptions, beliefs and emotional states.
By keeping thoughts positive, people could quickly affect their hexagon, he said.
People who stutter must deliberately work at changing their thoughts. They should replace the ones that have been the main supporting structures of their old selves — the ones that have fed their stuttering and their “poverty of spirit”.
The poverty of spirit was the feeling of nervousness people had when asking for their money back on a faulty item. It was sweating for no apparent reason when seeking a job they really wanted.
Gerry believed that many people who stutter lived with a daily poverty of spirit. This contributed to relapses within and outside any stuttering recovery programme. The issue was not just about stuttering. It was about where people saw themselves fitting into the world.
Gerry said that if people who stutter were to read every self-development book, attend every seminar and go on every course, they still would not reach anywhere near their potential if this poverty of spirit still had a hold on them.
Through their eyes, people saw the world as a series of positive, neutral and negative events. With their thoughts, they interpreted the events. This was called inner dialogue. Their feelings were created by their thoughts — not by actual events. All experiences must be processed through the brain and be given a conscious meaning before people experienced any emotional response.
He said people must understand what was happening to them before they could feel it. If their understanding of what was happening was accurate, their emotions would be balanced. If their perception was twisted and distorted, their emotional response would be unbalanced or distorted.
These negative thoughts were at the base of any emotional turmoil — their struggle to keep their technique in some situations yet succeed easily in other situations. These distorted thoughts were the big lies that people who stuttered had told themselves over many years.
Their innermost thoughts — the true unedited conversations within — had told them quite often:
1. “You are worthless.”
2. “You are unlovable.”
3. “You are not normal.”
4. “You are a simpleton.”
5. “You are a born loser.”
6. “How could anybody care about you?”
7. “You are a useless SOB.”
Gerry said people would not dare to talk to anyone on this planet the way they talk to themselves sometimes.
He said many people blamed
their boss, their parents, their teachers, their coach, their height or their
shoe size to justify their present situation. Yet they failed to sit down in
front of the mirror and honestly look at themselves and see a person of worth, a
person who was lovable, who deserved to reach their full potential and who
contributed to society. People needed to see the things that needed to change
and to change them for the better. This took guts and a burning
desire.
Cognitive approach to achieving
fluency
Neuro-linguistic programming is a model of communication about human processing that empowers people to run their brain using the language of the mind, according to Lorna Bukkland-Vitetta, a trainer/life coach/therapist.
Lorna told the Australian Speak Easy Convention we have an internal cinema/movie memory of sights, sounds, feelings and sensations. It was visual, auditory, kinesthetic, olfactory and gustatory.
Neurology is the function of the nervous system (the mind) through which experiences are processed via the five senses.
Linguistic is the language and other non-verbal communication through which neural representations are coded and given meaning.
Programming is what we hold in mind. We identify those areas that are not working for us. We create new empowering programmes that will work for us in our life today.
She believed skills were 20 per cent but mindset was 80 per cent of what people could achieve.
She said we were so much more than the way we speak. Stuttering was something that we might do occasionally. We might block 20 times in a day. Each block might last 30 seconds each. That was only 10 minutes of blocking a day. Yet those who stuttered often felt the blocking controlled them.
She asked whether people were moving towards what they wanted or away from what they didn’t want.
Neuro-semantics was about:
q How to run your brain to achieve the results you want.
q How to effectively represent your experiences.
q How to map your world of experiences.
q How to take charge of your states.
q How to develop effective strategies for achieving rewarding results.
Lorna said we all begin with a “state”. We live in these states. They govern our perception. States were “invisible” at first.
Meta-stating occurs when a second thought changes the first thought. We continually have thoughts about our thoughts. A third thought can change the second thought, and so on.
She asked: “How often do you know exactly what the other person is thinking about you? Do you really know?”
The training in neuro-linguistic programming was about making the invisible become visible. It was about how to make the unconscious frames come out in the open and be visible.
With blocking and stuttering, the driving emotions find expression in particular areas of the body. Hurtful, even traumatic, memories can become repressed. We embody negative emotions. The end expression of stuttering is physiological. But the cause is primarily a mental/emotional state. The mind/body connection explains this, she said.
The facts of our past are filed away in memories. She said time line therapy allows us to clean up negative emotions and feelings connecting any past negative memories that are detrimental to our wellbeing today.
She said our imagination is made up of images we create. Time line therapy also allows us to clean up this. Toxic thoughts and thought viruses can be got rid of.
A mistake is an opportunity to have a learning experience, she said.
In neuro-linguistic programming, she said people cut out the “why?” and ask “how?” No one could make a person feel bad. It was a choice.
She said she began her work with neuro-linguistic programming in Melbourne. There, four of her clients stuttered. She found they all became more fluent as a consequence of doing the programme, as well as making other changes in their lives. She now works in Brisbane, where she specialises in helping people who stutter.
Her husband Jon stuttered from the age of seven but she said he overcame it while doing a neuro-linguistic programming course at age 40.
“He has been completely
fluent now for over 14 years,” Lorna said.
Speak Easy members given chance to help with
research
By Stephen Hoare-Vance
president, Canterbury branch
We have had some cold weather here and our room at the College of Education has been converted from a classroom to an office but our meetings continue.
Currently we have 14 registered members and a committee of five.
On reflection, we haven’t been very busy together. However, there has been a slow process in train of getting to know how we can help each other and developing contacts with people outside the group with similar interests.
In the committee, we have been discussing, advertising, booster courses, funding and involvement with studies of the University of Canterbury’s Department of Communication Disorders.
The group had a visit from Professor Michael Robb, who introduced two speech-language therapy graduate students. Their studies required volunteers. Dr Anna Hearne visited us to tell us about a study the department is involved in, run from the University of Sydney’s Department of Communication Science and Disorders, about anxiety and stuttering.
The use of the Christchurch Community House, in the central business district, has been mentioned as a venue for the national conference here on May 11 to 12, 2007, but the lack of vehicle parking was an issue.
We have spent money advertising in The Family Times and in the Yellow Pages under the speech therapy section.
Being involved in the
administration of the group, I would say that significant communication skills
are involved in an organising role. This is a good way of testing one’s ability
to get one’s message across, as opposed to merely practising speech exercises
and conversing in the secure group. It is interesting to hear the views and
experiences Speak Easy members bring to group
meetings.
Planning needed for stuttering
awareness
By Quenten Brown
president, Auckland branch
The Auckland branch continues to meet at START in Parnell for the time being as START will be staying in its current premises.
Numbers have been down overall, with usually up to six people meeting on Monday evenings to practise their speech and provide a social outlet for conversation.
In terms of community awareness, newcomers have usually found us by means of the internet and through private therapists in Auckland.
We also have a new system for running Monday nights. Different members run the Monday nights and that gives a little variety.
A short booster course is planned for October for up to seven people, which will provide another avenue for people to better their speech skills.
On another note, has your branch done anything to plan for International Stuttering Awareness Day? October 22 is fast approaching. If we are to let people know we are here, we need to organise well at local level. If anyone needs Speak Easy brochures, please contact me. T-shirts are with branches and these are another useful means to let people know who we are and what we do.
Restaurant visit offers practice in
real world
By George Dabb
of the Auckland branch
The groups are still maintaining their numbers, with five to seven attending in Waitakere and four to five at Whangaparaoa.
The Waitakere group is planning a visit to a nearby restaurant as a change from our usual meeting.
Our sympathy goes to Viv Davie-Martin after the sudden loss of his wife, Lois. She once trained as a speech-language therapist and was very supportive of Speak Easy — often attending the Whangaparaoa meetings with Viv.
Laurence Bacchus won again at
New Lynn Toastmasters Club — this time being successful in both the table topic
speech and the prepared humorous speech. He now progresses to the area final. It
is noticeable that he shows hardly any hesitations in his public speeches.
Laurence is also now helping with the Speak Easy
website.
Birth a life-changing
experience
By John McMorran
of the Otago branch
Life goes on in its own quiet way down this part of the country.
Our fortnightly meeting are still attended by all members with our usual variety of meeting input by all of us.
Andrew Holyoake, our branch president, has had a real change in life with the birth of his baby daughter, Evie Chamberlain Holyoake, on July 24 at Queen Mary Maternity Hospital, Dunedin. She weighed 9lb 12oz. She and mum Louise were doing very well. Andrew has complained about a lack of sleep. Most of us who are parents know all about that.
For a change to our normal meetings, on August 21 we had a social night at a pizza restaurant, Raphael’s. It was a great evening with all enjoying some very nice pizzas.
With spring now upon us, we
look forward to better weather and warmer evenings.
The International Stuttering Association and the Croatian Association of People who Stutter, “Hinko Freund,” invite you and your family to join other people who stutter at the eighth World Congress for People Who Stutter.
This will be held at the Hotel Croatia in Cavtat-Dubrovnik, from May 6 to 10, 2007. Registration, the ISA’s business meeting and the opening cocktail party are scheduled for Sunday, May 6.
The programme’s theme is “Inclusion” and seeks to empower people living with stuttering as well as present information to speech professionals wanting to learn more about stuttering.
The conference will have people who stutter from around the world recounting their experiences in support groups and self-help. Speech therapists who specialise in stuttering and researchers from this field will share their work. To the speech professionals, this may be an opportunity for your clients to learn they are “not alone” in their stuttering experience. Please invite them to take part.
This is an historic event as it will be the first time the congress will be held in south-eastern Europe. Participants will be able not only to have a stuttering experience but also see the beautiful scenery and cultural lifestyle of the historic city of Dubrovnik.
ISA and the conference committee aim to make sure everyone who attends has an unforgettable experience and returns home inspired and able to share new ideas with his or her stuttering community.
The deadline for presentation submissions, including short talks from those who have not spoken before, is November 30.
More details will be at http://www.stutterisa.org/, including details of the
social programme and the accompanying persons
programme.
US writer sees need for trying many stuttering
treatments
NO MIRACLE CURES
By Thomas David Kehoe
(University College Press, $US14.95)
Thomas David Kehoe is the owner of Casa Futura Technologies, which makes electrical equipment marketed as “anti-stuttering devices”.
So in his latest book, No Miracle Cures: A Multifactoral Guide to Stuttering Therapy, it is no surprise to see that he recommends people who stutter use “anti-stuttering devices”.
Kehoe argues that stuttering is caused by at least five factors. He lists the five factors as:
q Auditory processing underactivity: “Brain scans have found that adult stutterers’ auditory processing area is underactive during stuttering.”
q Speech motor overactivity: “Brain scans have found that adult stutterers’ speech motor (muscle) control area is overactive.”
q Responding to stress: “Most stutterers speak fluently when relaxed but stutter when experiencing certain types of stress.”
q Genes and neurotransmitters: The neurotransmitter dopamine “appears to contribute to speech motor (muscle) overactivity”.
q Psychological issues: “For some individuals, these fears and anxieties are more disabling than their physical stuttering.”
Kehoe believes that most stutterers have one or two of those factors strongly and that the other factors might be less significant.
He argues that the reason why therapy at a speech clinic might not be successful for a person who stutters is because only one or two of the factors he lists might have been treated.
To treat auditory processing underactivity, Kehoe recommends “anti-stuttering devices”, such as those made by his company. These include delayed auditory feedback (DAF), which plays back to the speaker the sound of his or her own voice after a slight delay; frequency-shifted auditory feedback (FAF), which plays back his or her voice at a different frequency; or masking auditory feedback (MAF), which emits a sound loud enough to stop him or her from hearing his or her voice.
To treat speech motor overactivity, he recommends a fluency shaping therapy. (These include the proficiency fluency shaping programme in the United States, smooth speech in Australia and speech naturalness in New Zealand.) But in a section headed “Snake Oil and Charlatans”, he pours scorn on those speech-language therapists who argue that people who stutter should be consigned to a lifetime of speaking at slow speeds. He uses motor-control theories to argue that people who stutter need to practise speaking fluently at a normal speech rate before their new speech skills will become automatic.
To treat stress, Kehoe recommends compiling a list of difficult speech situations, from the easiest to the seemingly impossible, and working down the list until all stressful situations have been conquered. He also suggests personal construct therapy, so the person who stutters can develop an awareness of the choices that they make in life.
To treat psychological issues, Kehoe recommends psychological counselling.
Probably the most controversial advice in his book is to take a dopamine antagonist medication to treat the neurotransmitter dopamine. The use of drugs to treat stuttering is a new area of treatment and one that has not shown a lot of success in some of the early research studies in the United States. From what I have read, some people who stutter have found that some of the drugs have such severe side effects that it was preferable to stutter.
It is clear that Kehoe’s interest in the latest stuttering research is partly due to his company’s need to produce “anti-stuttering devices” that people will continue to buy.
But he is also a person who stutters. He has been successful in using the many therapies outlined in his book and recommends them to others.
Sadly his focus is on stuttering research in the United States — as if the rest of the world didn’t exist. He pretty well ignores significant research in Australia — apart from the work of Professor Ashley Craig, of Sydney, whose research into electromyography could prove lucrative for Casa Futura Technologies if the company can produce small, affordable devices that give feedback to people who stutter on the tension in their neck and jaw.
While the book will never been seen as the definitive textbook on stuttering, Kehoe has a lively writing style and enthusiasm for the subject. There are enough interesting chapters in his book to make it worth seeking out.
q To buy the book, see http://www.casafuturatech.com/
Air Flow
Air Flow is the quarterly magazine of the New Zealand Speak Easy Association.
Its library reference number is ISSN 1172-2355.
The opinions presented in Air Flow are not necessarily those of NZ Speak Easy.
All correspondence to the editor: Warren Brown, 250 Te Rapa Road, Hamilton 3200,
New Zealand; ph/fax: 07 850 8234; or by e-mail at: warrenbrown@actrix.gen.nz
Editorial deadline for the next issue is
December 1, 2006.
The New Zealand Speak Easy
Association Incorporated is a support group for people who stutter. Its mission
statement is: “Achieving fluency with confidence and
support.”
It is a member of the International Stuttering Association, giving it links with people who stutter in more than 40 countries around the world.
The ISA’s vision statement is: “A world
that understands stuttering.”
For further information on stuttering, contact the New Zealand Speak Easy Association at P.O. Box 16-554, Hornby, Christchurch, New Zealand; or check out these websites:
New Zealand Speak Easy Association: http://www.speakeasynz.org.nz/
or at: www.shopzone.co.nz/speakeasy
Air Flow (for back issues): www.geocities.com/speak_easy_nz
International Stuttering Association: http://www.stutterisa.org/
Stuttering Home
Page: http://www.stutteringhomepage.com/
President: Ian Taylor, 327B Oceanbeach Road, Mount Maunganui 3002; ph 07 575 9828; e-mail immt@nettel.net.nz
Vice president: Warren Brown, 250 Te Rapa Road, Hamilton 3200; ph 07 850 8234; e-mail warrenbrown@actrix.gen.nz
Secretary: James
Fox, 33 Barclay Street, Dunedin 9001; ph./fax. 03 473 0924; e-mail jamesfox@actrix.co.nz
Air Flow is printed with financial assistance from the Lottery Grants Board, which disperses profits from the New Zealand Lotteries Commission’s gaming activities.
This funding is gratefully acknowledged.