During a meeting of the Canadian Association of Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists in St. John's, Newfoundland, Cecil Hare, a traffic reporter for a radio station in that city, told the story of how he grew up with a severe stutter, and how it affects his life today. Growing up in Corner Brook, Newfoundland in the 1970s, there was no access to speech therapy or education about the problem. Cecil shares his story with the CBC here. You can also view a video of his speech.
For about as long as I can remember I have been a person that stutters. As a young boy my parents thought nothing of my stutter. They thought that, if anything, it would be something I would outgrow with time. When I entered school, my teachers right away identified that I had a stutter, and it was recommended that I take speech therapy, which I did, at the young age of five.
This article first appeared in the Spring 2011 issue of CSA Voices.
Marvin Klotz (photo credit: Ali Salem)
The King’s Speech has won many awards and revived interest in the phenomenon of “stuttering” (“stammering is the British and supposedly, gentler terminology). Hard as it is to believe, I was not always the slim, agile, silver tongued, long haired role model you have always known and admired. At one time, I couldn’t even say hello on the telephone let alone call strangers – yes I was/am a “stutterer”.
At sixteen, when applying for my first job, l was told by an employment officer that due to my stuttering, I would never be employed, never have a social life, never be married and never have children. He could not have been more wrong. It was never easy, though. I tried every company in my own home town and when I did not find any employment there, I tried every company in an ever widening circle. Finally I secured a position as an apprentice draftsperson, 10 kilometers from my home town.
Johnathon Boville is happy to shoot the breeze with anybody he meets - especially patrons at his new restaurant, Stuttering John's Bistro. The fact that he is a person who stutters has been no barrier to his social life, or to his entrepreneurial spirit. In fact, he believes that, as a memorable characteristic, his stuttering has helped him out as a successful local business person in the town of Oshawa, Ontario. People always remember meeting him.
The title of this DVD, Stuttering and the Big Cats, might make you think it is the field notes of some imaginative researcher who believes he has found a pride of lions with "roaring impetiments". However, that is not what it is about at all.
Reporter Cecil Hare on the job
