VOA慢速英语2020--新大学治疗口吃中心

About three million people in the United States, including a presidential candidate, find they sometimes stutter.

It is a condition that causes people to repeat the beginning sound of words, or whole words while speaking. At times, they even have trouble saying a word. People who stutter know exactly what they would like to say but have trouble producing a normal flow of speech, making it difficult to communicate with others.

Arthur Blank is the owner of the Falcons¹, an American football team in Atlanta, Georgia. He stutters. Other members of his family also stutter.

Blank said, "Defining communication by how fluent you are doesn't get at the freedom — the freeing of the inner person, the inner soul, the inner spirit, the inner mind, the intellect of what each person has to say and feel."

Last week, he gave the University of Texas at Austin $20 million to create a new center for research and education into stuttering. It is called the Arthur M. Blank Center for Stuttering Research and Education.

Courtney Byrd, a professor of speech, language and hearing sciences at the university, will lead the center. She said, "Our focus is on the person, not on the stuttering. We're teaching people as young as 3 years of age to adults over the age of 90, you can communicate effectively, and you can do so even if you continue to stutter."

A boy who stutters

Last February, former Vice² President Joe Biden spoke³ at a campaign event in New Hampshire. Biden spoke about his experience of learning to live with stuttering as a child. He talked about the anger he felt at school. He said other students and a teacher laughed at him for his stuttering.

"It has nothing to do with your intellectual makeup⁴," Biden said.

Brayden Harrington, a 13-year-old boy from Concord⁵, New Hampshire, was at the event. Harrington is a person who stutters, too.

Biden asked Harrington to talk more about his experience. Biden shared that he had controlled his own stuttering by looking in the mirror while speaking. The presidential candidate also gave the boy a speech he had prepared. It had markings on its pages showing where Biden would take breaks and pause. That way, he said, words would come out more smoothly⁶.

Help for people who stutter

Amber⁷ Doctrow works with students on speech problems at Montgomery County Public Schools in Silver Spring, Maryland. She told VOA that stuttering often begins in early childhood. Some children outgrow⁸ it but others will not.

She said a person who stutters may have thoughts that stop them from speaking, like:

"Oh well, I am going to stutter and then this is going to happen, I'm going to stutter, and then they'll think that I'm stupid, or I'm going to stutter and then I won't be able to say what I want to say."

Or they may move their body or take a deep breath to try to stop the stutter. These things may only work for a little while and then they stop working. Instead, she said, speech pathologists teach the person who stutters to overcome the problem by addressing the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of stuttering, such as by reducing tension while speaking.

"So, for instance, a cancellation⁹ is when you reduce the tension in your speech after you stutter. So, if I were to say, p-p-p-p-p–peach, and I have this tension in my speech when I stutter on that word, I could then go back and try it again with less tension: p-p-p-p- peach. And so, I may still stutter on the word but I'm doing it with less tension."

The U.S. National Institutes of Health says although there is no cure for stuttering, there are several treatments available. The health agency advises the following methods:

Provide many chances for the child to speak, especially when the child is excited and has a lot to say.

Listen carefully when the child speaks. Do not try to complete the child's sentences. And speak slowly.

Talk openly and honestly to the child about stuttering if he or she brings up the subject. Let the child know that it is fine. Adults and older children with stuttering should learn to speak slowly and regulate their breathing.

In the end, Doctrow said being a person who stutters does not mean you cannot be an effective communicator. Joe Biden is one of many politicians, actors and teachers who stutter.

Words in This Story

fluent – adj. able to speak in a smooth and easy way

soul – n. the spiritual part of a person that is believed to give life to the body

intellect – n. the ability to think in a logical way

makeup – n. the physical, mental, and moral character of a person

pause – n. a temporary stop : a period of time in which something is stopped before it is started again

pathologist – n. a doctor who studies changes caused by a disease or disorder¹⁰

address – v. to give attention to (something) : to deal with a matter, issue or problem

excited – adj. very enthusiastic and eager about something

1 falcons   

n.猎鹰( falcon的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Peregrine falcons usually pluck the feathers and strip the flesh off their bird prey. 游隼捕到鸟类猎物时，通常是先拔掉它们的羽毛，再把肉撕下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Though he doubted the wisdom of using falcons, Dr. de la Fuente undertook the project. 虽然德·拉·富恩特博士怀疑使用游隼是否明智，但他还是执行了这项计划。 来自辞典例句

2 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 makeup   

n.组织；性格；化装品

参考例句：

• Those who failed the exam take a makeup exam.这次考试不及格的人必须参加补考。
• Do you think her beauty could makeup for her stupidity?你认为她的美丽能弥补她的愚蠢吗？

5 concord   

n.和谐；协调

参考例句：

• These states had lived in concord for centuries.这些国家几个世纪以来一直和睦相处。
• His speech did nothing for racial concord.他的讲话对种族和谐没有作用。

6 smoothly   

adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地

参考例句：

• The workmen are very cooperative,so the work goes on smoothly.工人们十分合作，所以工作进展顺利。
• Just change one or two words and the sentence will read smoothly.这句话只要动一两个字就顺了。

7 amber   

n.琥珀；琥珀色；adj.琥珀制的

参考例句：

• Would you like an amber necklace for your birthday?你过生日想要一条琥珀项链吗？
• This is a piece of little amber stones.这是一块小小的琥珀化石。

8 outgrow   

vt.长大得使…不再适用；成长得不再要

参考例句：

• The little girl will outgrow her fear of pet animals.小女孩慢慢长大后就不会在怕宠物了。
• Children who walk in their sleep usually outgrow the habit.梦游的孩子通常在长大后这个习惯自然消失。

9 cancellation   

n.删除，取消

参考例句：

• Heavy seas can cause cancellation of ferry services.海上风浪太大，可能须要取消渡轮服务。
• Her cancellation of her trip to Paris upset our plan.她取消了巴黎之行打乱了我们的计划。

10 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。