Letter: We still haven't solved mystery of stuttering
The recent article in the Daily Herald, "Unraveling the Biology of Stuttering' was informative but seriously incomplete. It referred to President Joe Biden's battle with this speech impediment.
Biden said overcoming it was one of the hardest things he's ever done, but this writer begs for clarification. How did he overcome it?
The article offers in some detail on the etiology relative to the biology of stuttering but fails to explain how our president for the most part and to his credit conquered this type of speech disfluency.
It is interesting that many individuals who have the gift of song and who stutter during normal conversation lose the stammering when they sing. This can be clearly observed in non celebrities and the more famous alike. Country singer, Mel Tillis and some years ago crooner Julias LaRosa come to mine.
As a school psychologist, I have evaluated children who as part of their assessment for a speech impediment were referred for help. A good number were stutterers. In many instances when the child relaxed and gave me extended eye contact, the stammering went away.
Notwithstanding recent strides in brain physiology and stuttering, there seems to be an element of mystery surrounding the why of stuttering. Hats off to Joe Biden and all those who have overcome, adapted, and/or compensated for this speech impediment. And thank you to all those marvelous speech therapists.
Larry J. Powitz
Arlington Heights