Stuttering: A Life Bound Up in Words by M. Jerzer (1) In his book Stuttering: A Life Bound Up in Words, Marty Jerzer provides us with the insight on what it feels like being impaired by speech disorder. Ever since he was a child, Jerzer suffered from stuttering, without being able to find an effective way to deal with his verbal inadequateness. It took author years and years, before he learned how to confront his inner fears, related to his inability to hold public speeches. Despite the fact that Jerzers disorder was being considered by many of his friends as such that was going to prevent him from gaining a social prominence, author was able to prove them wrong. Therefore, we can say that Stuttering: A Life Bound Up in Words is ones autobiographical account of what can be accomplished if sheer will power is being used as a tool of overcoming seemingly impossible odds. Book contains many valuable advices for the people affected by the same speech disorder. Author argues that there are still many socially induced prejudices towards people who stutter, which are being shared by the majority of citizens who often think of stuttering within a context of some form of mental disorder.
The purpose of writing a book for Jerzer was to help people affected by disorder to gain self-confidence. (2) At the beginning of his book, author discusses different theories, in regards of what causes stuttering in the first place. He agrees with the opinion of majority of psychologists that stuttering is an inborn neurological disease; therefore, it is not curable. At the same time, Jerzer insists that it is quite possible for stutters to engage in conversations, without having to suffer from the feeling of inferiority. The main part of his book is dedicated to discussion of different psychological techniques, application of which may help stutters to overcome their inner fears, related to speaking in public. Author relies on examples from his own life to show readers that most of their existential limitations only exist inside of their mind.
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Jerzer concludes his book by stating that nothing is impossible for the person who has a strong belief in itself. (3) The most interesting about Jerzers book is that author was able to portray stuttering as much more complex psychological phenomenon then it is being traditionally assumed. Apparently, this speech disorder cannot be referred to as such that is being motivated by exclusively neurological factors, as well as we cannot talk about it is as being socially induced. The truth is stuttering is caused by the mixture of genetic factors with subconscious particularities of ones upbringing: What people believe about the cause of stuttering has nothing to do with what stutterers can do to improve their speech. Those who argue for a neurological cause do not dismiss the importance that psychological and environmental issues play on stuttering. A neurological dysfunction creates the predisposition to stutter.
Stress-inducing psychological and social (environmental) factors bring the actual incidents of stuttering on (Jerzer, Ch. 26).
Jerzers farther did not stutter, but he was emotionally unstable person, which in its turn, can be explained by his Jewish ancestry. It is not a secret that Jews are affected by psychological inadequateness to a larger degree then representatives of other ethnicities, because they often practice incest as the mean of maintaining their racial identity. Jerzers genetic predisposition caused him to stutter, but the same genetic predisposition (High IQ), allowed him to deal with his neurotic problem in very effective manner. 4) The following are the five facts I learned from the book: 1) The traditional way of dealing with their speech disorder, practiced by majority of stutterers, is forcing words through with the mean of raising voices pitch. However, this method is highly ineffective, as it deprives stutterers of their self-confidence even further. 2) There are many so-called covert stutterers, which appear to have a normal speech to an unsuspecting people.
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However, this costs them a great deal of effort. As result, covert stutterers get to be easily irritated. The overly exaggerated emotional responses to different sets of circumstances, on the part of these people, often betray them as covert stutterers. 3) It is possible for stutterers to improve their speech if they are willing to invest effort into it. One of traditional methods consists in stutterer practicing its speech in front of the mirror, with pebbles inside of his mouth. The persistence is a key to success, in this respect.
4) Many stutterers were able to gain social prominence exactly because of their disease, as they strived extra hard to prove their worth to everybody. Therefore, prior to associating any particular disease with definite evil, individual affected by it, needs to look for the possible beneficiary effects of such disease: I may fail the fluency test most every time I open my mouth, but Im pretty satisfied (and sometimes astonished) by what I’ve done with my life (Jerzer, Ch. 26).
5) Stutterer must avoid getting stressed out as much as he can. It has been noticed that, even people not affected by speech disorder, begin to stutter when they are stressed out. Apparently, even fluent people suffer from a form of internal stuttering. At the same time, stutters should not be utterly terrified of stress they should simply be casual and try not to think of their disorder.
(5) There can be no doubt as to the fact that Jerzer possesses writers talent. Despite of his close ties with radical Liberalism, Stuttering: A Life Bound Up in Words cannot be referred to as overly moralistic, even though that promoters of left-wing agenda are known for their tendency to assume that they are fully qualified of telling other people how to live their lives. What also adds up to the literary value of Jerzers book is the fact that it is filled with humor. Author exploits his acute sense of sarcasm fully, while not even being afraid of directing it at himself. At the same time, it appears to be highly doubtful of whether ones neurotic inadequacy can serve as basis for writing a book. Jerzer keeps going on and on about his speech problems, as if nothing in the world could be more important. This reveals author as person with overdeveloped sense of ego. After all, there are millions of stutterers in the world and, even though they suffer from their disorder a lot, it never occurs to them to refer to their lack of verbal fluency as something that prevents them from leading socially active lifestyles.
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There are many people who were born blind or who were born without limbs. Although, there can be no doubt that they suffer, I am not convinced as to whether the ideas that might derive out of their mode of existence could be referred to as socially beneficial. There can only be one conclusion, in regards to people with inborn diseases if there is anybody to blame for their suffering, it would be their parents, who failed to undergo genetic examination, before deciding to conceive a child. Jerzer talks about his farther with great affection, despite the fact that he passed him defective genes. Such authors attitude is perfectly understandable, but it does not make it less counterproductive, in social context of this word. 6) It appears that the reason why Jerzer wrote his book is that he was genuinely interested in helping people with impaired speech to regain their self-confidence. The feeling of social awkwardness is well known to stutterers.
By discussing details of such feeling, author wins trust, on the part of readers who suffer from the same problem. In its turn, this allows him to ease the process of accepting his ideas, because it is mostly being done on subconscious level. Readers become reaffirmed that they can fully trust the author, because they can relate to what he is saying. Therefore, we can refer to Stuttering: A Life Bound Up in Words as being therapeutic in its essence. As such, this book should be highly recommended for reading by those who were unfortunate enough to be brought into this world with inborn diseases.
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Bibliography:
Jerzer, M.
Stuttering: A Life Bound Up in Words. New York: Basic Books, 1997..
