So a rainy afternoon peeps & I decided to get around to finally watching the 2011 Academy Award winning film The Kings Speech which centred on the topic of King George VIs battle to overcome a chronic stutter & head up the British monarchy. I had been avoiding this movie, despite the rave reviews for a few years now, mainly because I guess the subject matter was a little too close to home for me... The opening scene where Colin Firths character, the Duke of York is about to give a speech to the crowds gathered at Wembley stadium for the closing ceremony of the Empire Exhibition in 1925 sent shivers down my spine & left a lump in my throat the size of a rockmelon as I recalled my own battles with the stutter rap Having lived with a chronic stutter since I was 5, I felt the Dukes humiliation as my own. I could identify with every interminable pause and stumble, every blockage and contortion as he struggled to speak. Having a stutter is like living in your own shadow. It can be a black, inhibiting cloud, attempting to force you down, preventing you from shining and being able to feel normal by being able to communicate as freely as other people. You know exactly what you want to say, but the words wont come out... Sorta like the way you feel when Channing Tatum takes his shirt off & you wanna speak but no words, not even air gets out... only this is so not in an ok way!!! :( No one knows what causes stuttering. 70 million people, which equates to about 1% of the world wide population suffer from it & there is no known cure. Stuttering is a biological and neurological condition that is caused by one or more of four possible triggers: Genetics, Child development, Neurophysiology or Family dynamics & there are nearly 4 times as many males as females who are stutterers. No two stutterers suffer from the condition in the same way. Interestingly, most stutterers dont stutter when they sing, read aloud with others, or cant hear the sound of their own voice. Stuttering is rarely outgrown after the age of 7, but that does not mean people who stutter are not capable of achieving great things. The list of famous & high achieving people with stutters is long & esteemed: Aristotle, Isaac Newton, King George IV, Winston Churchill, Lewis Carol, James Earl Jones, Nicole Kidman, Rowan Atkinson, Bruce Willis, Sam Neil, Marilyn Monroe, Tiger Woods, Michael Spinks, Greg Louganis, Shaquille ONeal, Chris Martin, Noel Gallagher, Kylie Minogue & Megan Washington are amongst the many who overcome the condition to make their mark on the world. Each of us has our own special challenges to overcome in our own ways & its all about the way you look at it. I see my stutter as the opportunity to help people listen better whilst simultaneously trying not to drown them in spittal - yep :) :) Its true Ive had to work very hard over the years since I was a little kid to get on top of my stutter: reading books over & over outloud until i could read them without stammering & slowing down my speech & elongating my words & working on controlling my diaphragm when breathing, with my Mums encouragement I made myself act in plays at school and do debating & public speaking & I chose journalism & teaching as career paths: areas where I couldnt hide behind my speech difficulties... I had leadership roles in a lot of the teams I played in during my sporting career which required me to talk & communicate a lot & then became an Elite coach in my sport where speaking & communicating effectively are paramount in the role. I present coaching courses and teach in classrooms a lot so I need to be able to speak in front of large groups of people or in one on one or small group settings & whilst all of these situations can be teriffying at the worst or very daunting at the least every time because the fear of having a stutter rap attack is ever present, I challenge myself to man up. I do it regardless, because otherwise that dark cloud is going to own my life & tell me it cant be done & I will never get close to becoming the best person I can possibly be which is always my aim in anything I do. I share all this, not to big note myself, I say it because there are many people who dont even know that I even have a stutter or the ongoing challenge it is on a daily basis & there are probably a lot of people close to everyone out there who are in the same boat with this condition. I guess what I want to say is if you stutter, thats ok, its just a unique part of you that you should not be ashamed of or embarrassed by, it should not stop you from chasing your dreams in any area of your life... True, It does make the task of asking someone out a lot more nerve-racking & drawn out than that situation already can be, but the upside of stuttering is that you become a walking thesaurus who can replace words that are difficult to say in an instant :) ;) I was lucky, in that my family never teased me or picked on me, they always were patient & didnt try to finish my sentences for me or interrupt me which was awesome... My sister Sharon & brother Todd were amazing... Granted, it meant ordering Maccas took a little bit longer (still cannot say no pickles on my cheeseburger its always no gurkin) & games of I spy went on a lot longer than they should have when it was my turn... but along with Mum & Dad & the rest of our family & my best friends I was never made to feel like a freak... but of course kids will be kids & there was bullying & teasing & a lot of tears at times... There were even people in high places who told me to choose a career path where I didnt have to work with people to ensure I didnt suffer in terms of confidence & low self esteem & fail at my work or hold others back... I look back on those times now & I smile quietly... Maybe in my own way I have made a difference to people ive come into contact with who were in my shoes or challenged in different ways & my honesty & willingness to try & front up & be better than myself has helped them to accept themselves & overcome their own obstacles & move towards their goals... I cant cure my stutter, but I can cope with it... If sharing this makes someone think before they laugh at or give a kid with a stutter crap or bully them, its been worth it :) #KEEPCALM&STUTTERON :)
Posted on: Tue, 19 Aug 2014 08:43:21 +0000
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