Article: "People Who Stutter Know Exactly What They Want to Say"

I'd like to share an article from The Chronicle of Higher Education, sent to me by a member of our group.

'People Who Stutter Know Exactly What They Want to say'

By Alexandra Rice

A banker turned speech pathologist, Eric Jackson has stuttered for as long as he can remember. Now an adjunct professor at Long Island University's Brooklyn Campus, he teaches a course on the nature and development of stuttering and supervises graduate students at the college's speech and hearing clinic.

Q. What got you interested in research on stuttering?

A. As a person who stutters it was really hard growing up, having this inability to speak and get my message across. About five or six years ago, I had an amazing experience in a therapy program. I started thinking about stuttering and communicating a lot differently, and I wanted to be a part of that process for other people who stutter.

Q. How has having a stutter influenced or shaped your career?

A. It gave me a new career. I used to work in banking, and up until that therapy experience, I never knew I could help other people who stutter. And just being a person who stutters, it gives me intimate insight into the impact a disorder like this can have on people's lives.

Q.What do you think about the New Jersey student who was reportedly asked by his professor to stop talking in class because of his stutter?

A. Well, I wasn't there, but if the student was told that he shouldn't speak in class because of his stuttering, obviously I think there's something wrong with that. I think it's great the student was so willing to contribute during the class and to ask questions even though he has a difficult time doing so. I saw some reports saying that it wasn't the stuttering that was the reason this person was asked to stop talking, but that he was taking up too much time asking questions in class. If that's true, then there should've been a conversation between the teacher and the student about him taking away from other students' class time-not about him stuttering.

Q. What are some of the latest therapies for people who stutter?

A. We recently ran an intensive therapy program over the weekend for children who stutter here at Long Island University's Brooklyn Campus. The program focuses on 8- to 12-year-old kids who stutter, and at least one parent participates in the weekend because parental involvement is a crucial part of the therapy. I can't tell you how helpful it is for kids who stutter to know that other kids are going through very similar things.

Q. What tips can you offer professors for working with students who stutter?

A. There are a couple of standard rules, like being patient and listening to what is said and not how it's said; not interrupting and not finishing words or sentences of people who stutter. People who stutter know exactly what they want to say, it's just not coming out. So when a person knows what they want to say and for some reason their speech system isn't allowing them to say it, that's when the anxiety, fear, and nervousness come out. For professors who are comfortable, they should take the student aside and ask how they can be helpful when the student is raising his or her hand in class. They should do this privately. I remember when I was in fifth grade, my teacher said in front of my whole class, "Oh, Eric, I think it would be really helpful to take a deep breath before you speak." That's just not the best wayto go about providing a suggestion. So, if somebody's speech is not typical, just give that person a couple extra seconds to talk. For people who stutter, sometimes they stutter and sometimes they don't. If those who don't stutter understand that, it can be really helpful.