環(huán)球英語 — 704：Stuttering
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Welcome to Spotlight. I’m Ryan Geertsma.
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And I’m Robin Basselin. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
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Alan Rabinowitz’s first memories are of hiding. He would do anything to avoid speaking in school. Once, in class, he was asked to speak. So he took a pencil and pushed it into his hand very hard. It caused a bad wound – so bad that Alan Rabinowitz was taken to the hospital. Much later, he explained why in a speech at the Stuttering Foundation,
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“The pain did not hurt me. It did not matter, because the expected pain of shame, embarrassment and laughter was much worse.”
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You see, Alan Rabinowitz stutters. Stuttering makes it difficult for Alan to speak. A person who stutters will say the same sound several times without wanting to. They may also have long silences in unwanted places in their sentences. These undesired stops and breaks happen very often. They are called blocks. Millions of people around the world struggle with the problem of stuttering. Today’s Spotlight is on this communication disorder.
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Stuttering is one of the world’s oldest medical mysteries. It can be caused by many different things. Some stuttering is genetic. Other stuttering begins because of a bad emotional experience or physical injury.
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Stuttering usually begins in childhood. It is normal for children to stutter as they develop the skill of talking. Most children who stutter will lose this problem as they grow older. But some people continue stuttering as adults.
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A person’s stutter may change in different situations. On a good day, a person may be able to easily say anything they would like. They will have few blocks. But a very stressful situation often makes the stuttering worse.
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Stuttering can be very frustrating. When a stutterer has a block, he cannot say what he wants to say. Steven Miller has stuttered since he was a child. Miller told his story in a documentary film called Transcending Stuttering. He explained what it feels like when he stutters.
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“It feels like someone is holding my neck.... just holding on to my words.”
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People who stutter are often insulted and laughed at. Some people think that stuttering means a person is not intelligent or that a person has a mental problem. Someone who stutters is often thought to be fearful or dishonest. According to the International Stuttering Association website,
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“There are many stories about the damage that stuttering does to the lives of people who stutter. People who stutter often experience social punishments that changes their lives.”
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People who stutter often try to hide their difficulty. When they stutter, other people are often not patient and may get angry. The person who stutters can be made to feel ashamed that they stutter. They may feel that something is wrong with them.
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Alan Rabinowitz felt that there was something wrong with him. Because of this, he wanted to hide from people. When Rabinowitz was a child, he could not talk to people without stuttering. But he could talk to animals. When he talked to animals, he did not have any blocks. Rabinowitz said,
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“Animals were the only things I could talk to as a child. Animals listened to me. One day, I thought - animals are like me! Even the most powerful animal cannot talk... They just want to live their life away from people.”
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Rabinowitz loved animals so much that he decided to study them. As an adult, he became an explorer. He travelled through the forests in Thailand and Myanmar. He has discovered new animals and plants. He has worked to protect large wild cats, which are in danger of dying out completely. He speaks to large groups of people about animals he wants to protect. He is very successful.
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And Rabinowitz’s stutter has also improved. He got help from a speech therapist – an expert who taught him ways to control his stutter. Instead of hiding his stutter, Rabinowitz now talks about it. He wants other stutterers to know they do not have to feel shame. He says,
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“There is one hope I can give a young person... It is the hope that most people who stutter do not let it control them. They might learn how to control their stutter. Or they learn to accept their stutter - and also make the world accept them. The fact is that most stutterers become stronger people.”
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Speech therapy can help most stutterers to take control of their speech. With the help of a speech therapist, a stutterer learns that it is not wrong to stutter. They learn a new attitude towards their stutter. They learn not to be ashamed.
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There are many ways stutterers can reduce the number of blocks they have. Speaking more slowly can help. Stopping in between words and taking more breaths in a sentence can also help.
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But even with these tools, people who stutter still need help from those around them. When listening to a stutterer, a person may want to interrupt. But this can cause more stress or shame for the stutterer. It is better to be patient when a person has a block. Wait to hear everything the stutterer wants to say. Remember that they are not stuttering on purpose.
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People who stutter do have difficult experiences. But many stutterers believe that working through the challenges makes them better. They learn from bad situations in life and become stronger. They live happy and creative lives. If we listen patiently to people who stutter, they can teach us. They can tell us how they learned from their difficulties. We close with the words of Alan Rabinowitz:
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“Stuttering is a gift... it took me a long time to believe it. But I believe it. It is the gift of living with honesty and strength and courage no matter what happens to you.”
