While producing my podcast over the years, once in a while I learn that an interview guest had thought of or attempted suicide. Please, please, please, please, please believe me that suicide is never the answer. Never.

You have got to trust me when I say that stuttering can indeed be overcome wether or not your stuttering goes way. I have the proof in myself and many, many fellow stutterers.

And you will overcome it, too. It just takes some time. Some patience. And a support system (more on that in the next paragraph). You can do it. Heck, even *I* did it!

We are living in the age of online communications. There is a huge, constantly growing stuttering community made up of really cool and supportive people. If you are unable to talk to family members, friends, clergy, or other stutterers in your area, please connect with the online stuttering community. We are a super friendly bunch always warmly welcoming new comers. We stutter together.

We are one big “stamily”.

I personally know many stutterers of all levels of severity leading happy, successful lives. Stuttering will always be a challenge. But we are strong enough to overcome it. We win job interviews, we get married, we rock.

If you’re on Twitter, follow me. I’m @stutterdude. I can introduce you to my awesome fellow stuttering friends. And they’d love to meet you.

If you’re on Facebook, do a search on stuttering and you’ll find tonnes of groups and fan pages about stuttering. There’s even a fan page for Stuttering is Cool! *cough* I created it myself *cough*

YouTube has some great videos posted by fellow stutterers. There are lots of social networks out there. Choose your favourite and I’m sure you’ll find a few stuttering communities.

Repeat after me: “It will get better”. I know you may not believe me, but trust me, it does. High school can be tough, but it does come to an end. And life with stuttering totally gets better after that (I loathed high school). How popular you are in high school makes no difference once you are out. Employers, spouses, friends won’t give a flying fig about your high school years.

So please, please, please, please, please do not take your life.

Read all about it in this New York Times article.

It strikes me as odd that a teacher would try to discourage a stuttering student from speaking in class. Most stutterers I know, myself included, would clam up. Not Phil. Way to go, brotha!

It’s available in epub format which can be read on many devices such as the iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch and the Sony Reader. You can also read ebooks on your desktop and laptop using free software such as Calibre and Stanza. I am also making it available in mobi format for viewing on the Kindle.

You’re probably wondering about the cover I created. This ebook is one of three releases I’m making available to the world. I choose classic novels in the public domain such as Moby Dick and illustrate covers for them. My schtick is I design the covers using references of today’s digital culture. I explain it all in a blog post named, Classic books, new covers, on my personal website. You will also find a list of the other books there.

Please note that this book has nothing at all to do with stuttering, however, in the spirit of fun, I am releasing this ebook’s to coincide with this year’s International Stuttering Awareness Day.

Download in epub format to read on almost anything
Download in mobi format to read on the Kindle

The OAPWS (Ottawa Association of People Who Stutter) self-help group is relatively young. The past year was our first full year of anything that resembled an organized structure that met in one set location that is easily accessed by public transportation and by auto, and is in a locale that has an amazing view of a green park, sandy beach, the Ottawa River and the Gatineau Hills. The year before we had a small group of 3-5 people who met at peoples homes.

These 3-5 people has increased over the year to number about 8-9, and we have had inquiries over the summer about the group from 2-3 PWS who have seen our web-site.

We try to have a set agenda for each session (meet every first and third Wednesdays of the month; from September to June), to practice our speach skills.

This past year has been busy; from sponsering a film night at the Ottawa Family Cinema which showed the King’s Speech (where over $1100 was raised and was directed to the Marie Poulos Bursary) to getting sponsers and being part of the Stuttering Clinic’s team in the Ottawa Race weekend where the team raised approximately $3600 which was directed to the same fund. We also had a garage sale where some $400 was raised to help with paying for the rental space where our group meets and for incidentals that require payment for our group (printing of brochures, etc.).

We hope this upcoming year will solidify our group and to have a basic set of ground-rules regarding equal participation at our sessions and to set out a semi-formal format for the chair of each session to follow. Each session is chaired by a different person to give all the challenge and experience of setting out the plan for a session, and for carrying out that plan.

You can watch the video here.

I blogged about the super awesome Dr. Alan Rabinowitz in the past. This time around, it’s a collections of video clips by Schneider Speech featuring Alan’s thoughts on how stuttering shaped his self-image and the blessings it brought to his life. Man, I can totally relate to everything he shared.

Plus, he shares an very moving story about his stuttering and how he came to saving big cats in the wild. 5th item on this page. Highly recommended.

Now here’s a further example of real character: Biden took the initiative to write to the student a week later urging him to remember their conversation. That student grew up to be class president throughout high school and is now a lawyer in Delaware. The Letters of Note blog has a transcript of the letter.

I came across this spiffy presentation showing how the movie, The King’s Speech, can be a lesson in giving presentations.

Though, I’m not too fond of slide 20 where it’s implied that stuttering is a psychological problem but that is indeed what Logue was doing back in the 30s. It was a time when stuttering was considered psychological in origin. Really, what Logue was actually doing was desensitizing Bertie – a technique used in modern day speech therapy. Us stutterers grow up with social punishment. That’s where the fear comes from. It comes from our stuttering, not the other way around. We are teased, looked at funny, automatically turned down jobs, etc., of course we are afraid to speak and think very lowly of ourselves.

Communication is a very important social aspect for people. In the book version of The King’s Speech, we learn how Logue used his technique back in the 1920s when treating returning soldiers unable to speak from shell shock. He instilled confidence in them the same way he instilled confidence in Bertie who grew up always being and expecting to be number two.

January 20, 2011 update: I came across this blog post entitled 4 Branding Lessons From The King’s Speech.

This Dutch short film from 1998, called To Speak, is currently making it’s rounds among the online stuttering community. I first heard about it from several of my fellow stutterers on Facebook.

Wow, what a powerful film! In just 12 minutes, it portrays EXACTLY the horrible experiences and emotional scars that we must fight to transcend from the social punishment that comes to us because of our stuttering.

I like the technique used of mixing scenes from different points of the main character’s life with clips history’s great speakers from Demosthenes to Muhammad Ali and James Bond. And then there’s the whole being a teenager thing. If that wasn’t hard enough!

The film’s director and writer, Erik Lamens, was a stutterer himself and this movie is an autobiography of his childhood. Here’s more information about To Speak including all the awards it had won.

As a designer, I don’t like the film’s use of comic sans ;) However, I can’t help to see it as a connection to the scnes of the protagonist as a little boy. The horrible experiences we face growing up stay with us throughout our lives.

Or maybe the director thought the font was cool enough to use but I have to admit, I couldn’t help the interpretation!

The King’s Speech is a book as well! Of course, I read it and of course, I loved it. It’s written by Lionel Logue’s grandson, Mark, who – picture it – your parents always had these pictures of King George VI around and one day your aunt tells you about a box of your grandfather’s things she just found in her home. You open up the box and inside are all his notes, journals and mementos of his treating and friendship with the King. All these were used to rewrite the screenplay which became the movie we love today.

The book is not “the book version” of the movie. It’s a historical count of the friendship. How life was like for the two men growing up, how Logue came to move to England, how the two met, and so on. A fascinating “background story” to the movie which, as of writing, I’ve already seen twice. Can’t wait to see it again and I am in trouble once it’s out on DVD!

The BBC posted a short video of Mark Logue showing some of his grandfather’s mementos (hat tip to Steven of the BSA for alerting of the video).

Following up from their earlier film, Transcending Stuttering: The Inside Story, Dr Phil Schneider and Dr. Uri Schneider recently released Going with the Flow: A Guide to Transcending Stuttering. The theme in this film is change. Children who stutter don’t seek speech therapy. Their parents do. So the concept of change is in the parents. The children seek change and speech therapy when they grow up.

Going with the Flow: A Guide to Transcending Stuttering from Schneider Speech on Vimeo.

We follow the lives of two fellow stutterers as they embark on change helped by speech therapy and self-confidence. It’s an incredibly motivating film and I highly recommend bookmarking it.

I’m also helping out with a live interactive chat event about the movie hosted by the Schneiders. Details are on their site at schneiderspeech.com.

I’m currently transcribing two awesome short films created by Dr. Phil Schneider and Dr. Uri Schneider. Two speech therapists that get it. They totally understand the stuttering experience and what we are going through. Transcending Stuttering: The Inside Story lets us hear from seven fellow stutterers describing their all-too-familiar experiences with stuttering. Ever feel alone in your stuttering? Watch this film and you’ll no longer feel that way.

Transcending Stuttering: The Inside Story from Schneider Speech on Vimeo.

For link #66, I’ll write about their recently released short film entitled Going With The Flow, A Guide To Transcending Stuttering which is currently screening in various locations.

I was interviewed on CBC TV with fellow stutterers and members of the Canadian Stuttering Association. You can view the news segment on the CBC website. This is a shorter version of what was aired. We talked about stuttering, its causes, the myths and “The King’s Speech”. And my podcast! I had a blast. The news segment was broadcasted on the major current affair program, The National, and across Canada on Newsworld and local news broadcasts.

I also found out that my friend and fellow Toastmaster, Wayne, also gave an interview for CTV News this week. Yay Wayne!

Glad to see all this positive awareness increasing thanks to “The King’s Speech”, the people who made the movie and especially to King George VI and Lionel Logue.

I’m so happy to report that Hiten Vyas, author of the amazingly fantastic Stuttering Hub has started a companion video show! It’s available on YouTube and as of this writing, his latest episode is #3 which I’ve embedded below. In each episode, Hiten offers his advice and sage wisdom on overcoming and stuttering (stammering?) with confidence. Definitely subscribe!

Pam over at Make Room For The Stuttering (and her podcast, Women Who Stutter) alerted via Facebook of this excellent video of a fellow stutterer re-inacting his presentation explaining stuttering and what it feels like to stutter. He also covers what to do when you speak to a stutterer and offers some tips. This should be shown before The King’s Speech :) Well done!

I love Google Alerts. It helps me find hidden gems around the Internet like this 1938 newsreel of King George VI clearly showing his stuttering during a speech in front of a packed stadium.

Ever since I saw The King’s Speech at the Toronto International Film Festival, I wondered how accurately the star, Colin Firth, portrayed the king’s stuttering. Were films and records available to give the actor guidance?

According to this article from the British Pathé Blog, there was! And it moved both the actor and director, Tom Hooper, to tears. It was from seeing King George VI suffering and struggling to speak his words as best as he could.

In my opinion, Lionel Logue, the royal speech therapist who is also the center of attention in The King’s Speech, did a fine job. As you watch the newsreel (click here!), note how the king soldiers on, standing up straight and keeping his composure until the end.

THAT’S success in my book.

As a fellow stutterer, I can’t help but feel it being cool to see someone so giant and famous have the exact same stuttering experiences as me (well, I never made any speeches in stadiums …yet). Note his eyes blinking during a block and there are a few times when his blocks are quite long. Us fellow stutterers know exactly what’s going through his mind.

“If the king can do it, then so can I” is a phrase I’ve heard from British stutterers who grew up listening to the king speaking on the radio.

Warning: There’s lots of loud static in some places throughout the newsreel.

Don’t FEAR Your Stutter, be PROUD, You’re Still Standing! is a motivating video by the super awesome Philip Garber who shot it for International Stuttering Awareness Day. What I like about his video is his complete honesty and fierce call to all stutterers to not fear speaking.

BSA Chief Executive Norbert Lieckfeldt sat down with Colin Firth to talk about his role in the upcoming movie “The King’s Speech“. In particular, Firth’s honest portrayal of stuttering and what he learned about what we stutterers experience. My favourite quote from Firth: “I am doing a double journey, I have to learn to stammer and then I have to play someone trying desperately not to.” A well done interview, Norbert!

The King’s Speech: chatting with Colin Firth

Stotters is the name of a Belgian documentary about Jef, an 18 year old with with autism spectrum disorder who is struggling to overcome his stuttering. After many failed attempts to conquer his stuttering, this film documents Jef’s last attempt but this time with his speech therapist who also struggled with stuttering. After watching the trailer, it looks to be quite the touching film!

Related links:

• Facebook fan page
• Sophimages films
• Joke Nyssen, director

Lots of links in this post!

While I’m definitely not a fan of reality tv, I can’t help but keep an eye on the Italian X-Factor that’s going on as I type this. One of the contestants, Stefano Filipponi, has a severe stutter and naturally, I’m rooting for him. And deservedly so, he’s the only one competing who has a decent singing voice (bringing tears to the judges eyes each time).

Good thing YouTube is around! Below are a few clips from his appearances on the show as of this writing.

Episode 1 – Stefano is interrupted many times by the judges who attempt to finish his sentences

Episode 2 – Stefano does a Roberto Begnini number

Episode 3 – Stefano sings a toe-tapper

Finally! The theatrical trailer for “The King’s Speech” starring Colin Firth as King Geroge VI and Geoffrey Rush as Lionel Logue, the royal eccentric speech therapist. I noticed one line was slightly changed from the movie ;) Just watching this gets me on the edge of my seat. Can’t wait to see it again. For details about the movie’s gala premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, listen to episode 95 of my podcast.

International trailer released in October 2010:

My friend Jonathan from beautiful Québec City alerted me to this fascinating episode of NPR’s Radio Lab about Alan Rabinowitz and how he came to start his work in building wildlife sanctuaries around the world. It all started one day in the zoo back when Alan’s stuttering was severe when he was a little boy. 

The episode is called Wild Eyes. While you’re there, subscribe to the Radio Lab podcast. It’s a great show!

Tom Weidig over at the fantastic The Stuttering Brain blog has been posting about a website claiming (and at the same time, not claiming) to have a stuttering cure.

As of writing, the Stuttertini has been born. I asked David Friedman, my new stuttering friend who I met at this year’s NSA Conference, to create a martini to reflect and commemorate the awesomely cool experience of attending an NSA Conference:

Stuttertini

2 pts vodka
1pt triple sec
1/2 part grenadine
1/2 part pineapple juice

You come to the NSA conference and have a sweet experience. You don’t realize the effect it has on you until after you’re finished because it’s so sweet.

The pineapple gives you the island feel because at the NSA conference, you feel like you’re on an island.

And the non-alcoholic version is called the Stutter Up:

Couple splashes of Grenadine
Mostly 7-up
1-2oz pineapple juice

I came across a fantastic post by Sachin of the Indian Stammering Association mentioning the Ti-Ger Analogy (Thanks! And I think it’s so cool that the analogy is known in India!). Sachin explains how growing up, he thought that if he could read as much about stuttering as he could, then one day he could cure it. Much like reading about how, say, a car engine works will help you understand how to fix it yourself when it breaks down. Then he explains stuttering acceptance  being like the act of planting a seed:

“You can put water, fertilizer, good soil, provide sun and air- everything, but if you fail to put in the seed, will you ever get a plant? In case of PWS looking for solutions to their speech difficulties, courage is that seed, without which no amount of reading will be of any help. Now, courage for what? Courage to accept that I stammer; courage to reach out and meet other PWS; courage to experiment with new ideas- like walking to a stranger and asking him what does he think of stammering?”

This is a great post which I highly recommend reading – Ti-ger on a walk.

Once again, as always, another excellent post over at Stuttering Hub by Hiten Vyas. And I’m not just saying that because I’m mentioned ;) Hiten wrote up 8 characteristics of modern stutterers. A very positive read. Thanks Hiten!

Frequent Stuttering is Cool guest and blogger Pam Mertz, the Stutter Rock Star, has launched her very own podcast! Called Women Who Stutter (iTunes link), it’s geared towards the stuttering experience of the fairer gender. In a casual chat format, Pam’s podcast is a long overdue glimpse into the stuttering experience for women. After all, men make up the majority of sutterers as well as in support meetings and social meet ups (and podcasts).

Congratulations on your new adventure, Pam. I know you’ll enjoy it as much as I do with mine!

P.S. Like all podcasts, you don’t necessarily need to use iTunes to subscribe. You can listen directly on Pam’s website at http://stutterrockstar.wordpress.com or subscribe to her rss feed, http://feeds.feedburner.com/stutterrockstar,  in any feed reader or podcatcher (free of cost!).

Here is an article from page 92 of a 1940 issue of Popular Science magazine – The Cure for Stammering. I haven’t had a chance to read it yet so apologies in advance if it’s turns out to be completely and utterly rubbish. Actually, chances are it is complete and utter rubbish but I’m sharing this only for idle curiosity’s sake as I have an interest in the stuttering experience through the ages. I really like the illustrations throughout the magazine :)

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden talked about stuttering on The View. I haven’t seen the video but since it was posted on the NSA website, you know it will be good! :) Glad to see Joe Biden doesn’t hide the fact that he stutters and it was difficult to live with.

Part 1

Part 2

Part3

Part 4

Stammering Non-Avoidance Day happens on the last Friday of every month. An idea started up by Steven, the man behind the British Stammering Association‘s Twitter feed, is very simple and very effective: on that day, do a speaking situation something you’d normally would avoid. Say, using the telephone, ordering tickets, asking for directions, that kind of thing. And when you do, don’t avoid any words! :) There’s a Facebook group, too!

I’ve been alerted by the British Stammering Association’s Facebook fan page of a movie that’s out called Shine of Rainbows. It’s about a woman who adopts an orphaned boy with a stutter and takes him to live in a remote part of Ireland. From the trailer it looks to be a great movie.

The King’s Speech is an upcoming movie about King George VI’s stutter (or as the Brits say, stammer). For the longest time, I’ve always thought how cool it would be to have a book about the king’s stuttering. In fact, a few days before I found out about this movie, I was thinking about maybe creating a comic about it! King George VI is Queen Elizabeth’s father. As I understand, this movie centers on him and his Australian speech therapist. 

I’m very interested in seeing how speech therapy and the stuttering experience were like in the 20s – 40s (well, as far as the director is concerned). Particularly with an important figure such as royalty. I can only imagine how much more difficult it must have been to be a stutterer in that era. In fact, there’s a story about BBC employees having to edit out his stuttering using SIX turntables (see Exclusive: The Men Behind The King’s Speech in the Colin Firth fan site link below).

The King’s Speech is scheduled to come out later this year. My uneducated guess is after the summer. Read all about it over at this Colin Firth fan site. By the way, guess who’s playing King George VI?

I think this the speech in the YouTube clip below is what the movie is also centered on. As a stutterer, I can totally feel his struggle and challenge in saying his speech. Great job, your majesty!

I’m sick of hearing of various celebrities who “overcame” their stuttering or grew up stuttering yet they seem to never, ever dare stutter in front of the camera. While I do understand there’s an “image” to protect and nobody’s usually up to stuttering in public, however, 1) why bother mentioning it in the first place and most importantly,  2) what kind of message is being sent?

It’s refreshing to read about Ed Balls, a public figure in Great Britain, being upfront about his stuttering. And explaining how trying to cover it up makes it worse. He gets the Ti-Ger Award of Recognition! (:o]

Plus, he’s also involved with the programme that actor Michael Palin, who also stutters (and gets the Ti-Ger Award as well), launched for children who stutter. It’s got a cool name, “Wait, Wait, I’ve not finished yet”.

Thanks for @webby49 for alerting me to this great story.

While reading Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game, you can absolutely feel the author’s positive energy coming from her experience stuttering her very important speech at her graduation ceremony. IN FRONT OF EVERYONE. It’s not so scary after all :)

“All of you deserve to feel a sense of accomplishment and encouragement and if you feel there is no one rooting for you-I AM! Don’t be afraid to be a fruit loop in a world of Cheerios. Stay strong and stutter beautifully.“

Here’s a terrific blog post by medical student, Irvin Bussel, who vividly explains the frustrations of stuttering in dialogue form. I really like his analogy of trying to colour between the lines with your crayons and dealing with your stuttering as you playing with the cards you’re dealt. We really have no choice but to make the best of it and transcend our stuttering.

I recently met up with my friend Heather on her business trip to Toronto. She was taking a work-related course and ended up learning a lot more than her curriculum. Heather blogged about her friends’ curiosity about stuttering “after seeing a series of uncomfortable restaurant staff, two icebreaker self introductions and a flat out rude guest speaker they decided there might be more to things than needing a few extra seconds to talk”.

Heather writes how she explained to her friends how she uses the Ti-Ger Analogy to let go of anger and embarrassment so that she can enjoy herself despite these embarrassing and awkward moments. I highly recommend this read!

Listener, Lyla, alerted me that Stuttering Stan Takes A Stand is now available in audio book form for free! It’s a children’s book about a squirrel named Stuttering Stan who deals with bullying and deals with his stuttering. I really like how from the beginning, Stuttering Stan doesn’t try to hide his stutter.  The story is also offered in streaming audio so the story is ready to you. I mean, your kid(s). Stuttering Stan Takes A Stand is written by Artie Knapp, illustrated by Barbara Leonard Gibson and the audio book is read by Alessandro Cima who does a great rendition of stuttering :) The book is also available in physical form.

CBC, Canada’s public broadcaster, recently aired a documentary about stuttering on their radio network. Unfortunately, I missed it however, fortunately, I have friends who took the time to tell me about it and suggest that I contact the station. I would have never imagined that the following week I’d be at the station recording the intro for the rebroadcast!

Actually, I was recording the intro for CBC Radio One’s superb podcast called “Listener’s Choice” (or “The Choice” as it’s named on the radio version. The podcast provides listener requests for shows they enjoyed on the air.

I just heard the documentary and it is FANTASTIC. The stutterer being interviewed, Andrew McIntosh, describes our stuttering vividly and covers all our challenges: self-lothing, dating, job interviews, the telephone, speaking in front of a crowd, to name a few.

The documentary introduces Andrew to us as someone who tried A LOT of speech therapy throughout his life and now is done with it. He shares with us his feeling that speech therapy makes us feel that we’re broken and need to be fixed.

I share Andrew’s positive outlook on embracing your stuttering and I hope you do, too.

Listen to the documentary, The Sound of My Voice.

Pam Mertz, the @stutterrockstar, shared a moving explanation and all-too familiar frustration with stuttering by one of her readers, Adam. Adam hits the nail on the head as he describes what it feels like to grow up stuttering. As much as I’m open and positive about my stuttering NOW, before acceptance and all, I wasn’t too far off from Adam’s description. And even now it’s still a source of awkwardness and embarrassment. When you stutter, you have to take the good with the bad.

I highly recommend for those who don’t stutter to get an exact description of the sheer turmoil we go through (and all the crap we have to eventually overcome by ourselves). You don’t suddenly become accepting and positive overnight.

I also highly recommend this to fellow stutterers for obvious reasons. It helps to share our similar experiences.

Adam’s Story: Locked In A Greenhouse

You don’t have to give your name if you don’t want to.

E-mail your sound file to coolstutter@gmail.com and I’ll play it on my next episode. I’ll be accepting sound files until Friday, October 16, 2009.

Alternatively, you can record your story on my voicemail at +1-206-339-0389 (don’t worry, no phones will ring waking me up during the night).

Thanks in advance! I can’t wait to include your stories on my show!

My friend Ridwan started up his own blog! I really like the name, Ridwan’s Scribbles. And I really like how he uses my Ti-Ger cartoon for the bookmark icon and I really like what he wrote on his about page:

This is my place to be myself; a place that I love, a place where I can be without any interruptions from people whom I know, who keep bothering me on What I am doing!!!

Ridwan also got himself a mobile blogging app so I’m excited to see what kind of scribbles he’ll be posting when he’s out and about in Scotland.

International Stuttering Awareness Day happens every October and it’s an online conference! It’s happening from October 1-22. Here’s more information about this unique event:

Stuttering: More Than a Tangled Tongue is the theme of the twelfth annual International Stuttering Awareness Day online conference, hosted by Judith Kuster, Minnesota State University, Mankato, will open October 1. It can be found by going to The Stuttering Home Page  (www.stutteringhomepage.com).

The online conference features several papers written by well-known professionals and consumers (people who stutter/clutter) from around the world.  Participants can read papers and interact with the presenters on easy-to-use threaded discussions attached to each paper, during the three weeks the conference is “live” – from October 1-22.

The ISAD online conference is freely available or can be taken for Continuing Education (1.5/15 hours) or one university credit (either graduate or undergraduate). Instructions and requirements for CEU or credit are online at http://www.mnsu.edu/comdis/kuster/isadarchive/requirements.html.

Papers remain available online after the conference has ended and all past conferences are archived and available at http://www.mnsu.edu/comdis/kuster/isadarchive/onlineconference.html

A new forum has popped up recently and it’s called stutteringcommunity.com. Despite it being new, it seems to be quite busy. Among the usual topic areas for stuttering (stuttering, treatments, venting), two which caught my interest are Skype Sessions and Success Stories. I love the success stories. Great idea! And so are the skype sessions for practicing speech tools and talking to other stutterers. Definitely a forum to check out.

Here’s a site what I like to refer to as a multimedia stuttering blog :) It’s called Stuttterblog and it offers the stuttering community support. But it goes beyond that. As its tagline says, it’s a social community. Sign up as a member and you can not only comment on posts, you can also write your own posts, share videos, etc. You can also follow Stuttterblog on Twitter.

I was alerted to a great story while surfing The Toronto Stutterers Meet Up Group. The article, Stutter Couldn’t Block His Dream, is about the graduation of a stutterer from the New Haven Police Academy. Plus, he has a black belt in karate. Gotta have more cops like that! Another great piece of evidence that you can accomplish anything you desire in spite of your stuttering.

Carly Simon recently wrote an article about her experiences of growing up stuttering. And what a vivid picture paints. As a fellow stutterer, I totally and completely related to everything she described. Some of those memories I didn’t need to revisit but then again, they shaped me into the person I am today. Stuttering or not, kids all have to go through those tough life moments in order to grow.

Carly Simon is one of the many artists who donated their time on the Listen: Songs Written by Children Who Stutter CD coming out on June 23.

I was a guest on episode 145 of the Canadian Podcast Buffet last week and coincidentally, the topic of the talk of the week was ethics in eiditing. When you have to edit a long interview down to a shorter time, you have to be really careful in your editing that you’re not changing context. We chatted about editing out stuttering. Is it wrong to edit out stuttering?

My fellow stutterer and tweep, @stirpicus, wrote about his thoughts about his stuttering for the very first time on his blog. It’s a great read because you can feel the tremendous awesomeness he is feeling about coming to terms with his stuttering and reaping the awards from accepting it. What I like best is all this happened from the online stuttering communities offering support. You rock!

I was interviewed on the fantastic Just One More Book! podcast produced by Mark Blevis and Andrea Ross. They had a call for art submissions for their Love of Reading Gallery and mine was entitled Now This One. I talk about how I came up with the idea, how I drew it and my thoughts on digital art and what stops me from using my iPhone as a sketchbook. You can listen to the interview here.

This is stuttering link #32 because I hardly stutter my shows. Reason being that stutterers usually stutter a lot less when speaking by themselves. So this is a great opportunity to hear how I usually stutter on my high-stuttering days. Yet I still get my message across. Stuttering doesn’t prevent you from communicating effectively ;)

@PhotoDan of the PhotoCast is a Special Olympics Illinois Athlete and Global Messenger. And this is his inspiring speech about making a difference and transcending ignorant stereotypes. Dan shares a story of how a few of his teammates were angry that they lost and the coach said it’s not about winning about “let me win but if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt”. I really like that (hence the title of this post). Dan also mentions Joe Biden’s stuttering.

Listen to Dan’s fantastic speech. And subscribe to his podcast because photography is fun! :)

THIS is living proof that talent always outshines ANY incorrect impression other people have. This is why it’s important NOT to allow your stuttering to keep you down. I can’t stress that enough. I’ve met too many stutterers who insist on being kept hidden and beaten by their stuttering. Life’s too short, my friends.

While I’m on the topic, just a little reminder of this as well.

Friday, November 13, 2009 is the date for the 1st annual Stuttering Appreciation Day (7 months from now). I started this up to give a day for my fellow stutterers to look on their stuttering in a positive light.

The concept is simple. On November 13th, go to Stuttering Appreciation Day and leave a comment on what you appreciate about your stuttering.

If you have a blog (or podcast, etc.) about stuttering, write a post about what you appreciate in your stuttering and post the link on Stuttering Appreciation Day. If you do plan on blogging, please send me your blog’s url and I’ll post it to my list of participating sites.

Right now, you cannot leave a comment because I’ll open them up on Friday, November 13, 2009.

I came across this blog post listing Top 10 Dating Turn On’s. If you can get past all the instrusive ads. In a nutshell, it’s, well, 10 tips to keep in mind when on a date. They’re pretty much common sense but it’s good to read them to keep ‘em fresh in your mind.

This way, your focus is on your date and the conversation and not entirely on your stuttering.

There’s a stuttering character in the current story arc in the newspaper comic strip, Doonesbury. I’m not too familiar with Doonesbury as I don’t subscribe to a newspaper during the week. So I only see it on weekends. From what I gather, it’s a political/current events comic. In this arc, a woman is meeting a guy who stutters. That’s pretty much it so far. The story seems very recent.

One curious thing though, it is revealed in this comic that the stutterer actually has aphasia. And I’m such a sucker for stuttering in the media ;) Stuttering isn’t mentioned in this wikipedia article on aphasia. Since I personally take anything on wikipedia with a grain of salt (just in case, you never know), I did a Google search to find out more. I’m still perplexed.

No offence to Gary Trudeau, I’m sure he did his research or is probably close to someone with aphasia, however, I’m not familiar with it so I’m educating myself. Can anyone let me know if aphasia causes stuttering? Are the two similar?

I love this post. It’s by Robert R. Best, horror writer. Telling the world that he stutters. I remember when I was debating whether or not to reveal my stuttering to the world like this. Podcast, resume (I’m a web designer so this site is definitely going in my portfolio) and all. As you can tell, I did reveal and… wait for it… nothing bad happened. It’s scary to think of telling people you stutter, but once you try it, you begin to wish you’ve done it in the past :)

And you truly do stutter less. Not by much, but just mentioning your stuttering puts both you and your audience at ease. And you’ll find that your audience doesn’t care that you stutter.

I’ll bet Robert will feel the same way. Great job, man!

Ahhhh, here’s a gem! An interview with a stutterer who describes our challenges to a tee. From a 2006 episode of the Citizen Shift podcast, John Paskievich is interviewed about why society’s perception of stuttering need to change. Hear! Hear! In particular, the media. Hear! Hear!

John is a documentary filmmaker who made a film, called Unspeakable,  about the media’s prejudice towards stuttered speech. In this interview, you will hear the struggles he encountered while trying to pitch his film to the media.

In this podcast, you’ll hear how during a television interview, the host couldn’t get past John’s stuttering and asked him to do take after take. John asks why there is such a stigma towards stuttering on tv. There are people with all kinds of accents, people in wheelchairs, obese people… Through pondering a stutter-friendly world, John talks about how disclosing your stuttering makes everyone relaxed.

John also describes how stuttering robs a student of a positive experience of what school is all about, expressing your ideas and having fun, learning what they want to learn, making friends with the people they’d like to make friends with, the ignorance…

Sounds like a great film. I’m ordering my copy!

Listen to the podcast here.

Danielle of Danielle’s Blog, also known as Stuttering Mon on YouTube (and @danistuttermon on Twitter) has launched a new series on YouTube. The concept is simple: she asks a question about stuttering and you reply with a video response. Danielle plans to post a new question between Wednesday and Friday.

Below is the first installment with special cutsie co-star :) If you have a web cam, why not answer her first question?

Here’s a great site: The Stuttering Brain, by physicist and/or financial guy, Tom Weidig, of Luxembourg. How cool is that? :) And/or? He was working towards a PHd in particle physics (I love physics!) when he decided to get into finance and investment banking has a PhD in physics, worked in research then left acadaemia for the financial world.

Tom hasn’t abandoned his scientific side because he blogs about the science, research and treatments behind stuttering on The Stuttering Brain. There’s lots of information here presented in the proper scientific point of view. No psuedo-science or junk science here. I can’t recommend this site enough :)

Tom is a lifelong stutterer and from his interview on StutterTalk, he doesn’t seem to avoid his stuttering.Which, I’d like to add, planted the seed for me for totally letting my stutter out no matter who I talk to. And it feels great to do so.

Following up on my previous post sharing 5 common mistakes stutterers make, by Hiten Vyas of Stuttering Hub, today I share his 10 Tactics To Deal With Stammering. Items #7 and #8 will be devoted to an entire episode when I interview Hiten on a future show. And I really like item #9.

You can follow Hiten on Twitter at @hitenvyas and myself @stutterdude. Sign up for a free Twitter account and let’s chat! I can introduce you to fellow stutterers and SLPs.

My good friend, Hiten, has a few “list posts” that I’d like to include here on my 101 Stuttering Links hall of fame. Today, I’m sharing with you Hiten’s reality check entitled, “5 Common Mistakes PWS Make“.

Items #1 and #2 describe me during secondary and post-secondary school. What an ordeal. Thankfully, #3 and #5 aren’t me (though some may beg to differ with #5) but it was only relatively recently that I got over #4.

It’s only natural that we all make mistakes. Which ones do you make?

You can follow Hiten on Twitter @hitenvyas and me @stutterdude. I’ll introduce you to fellow stutterers :)

There’s this ‘list 25 random things about you’ thing going around Facebook and for link #20, with permission, I will share the 25 random things by Mike “The Birdman” Dodd of This Week In Geek. Though he doesn’t stutter, I found his 25 random things really inspiring.

We can get beaten down by stuttering risking having our lives stifled by it. It’s easy to get discouraged and sometimes an uphill battle to overcome it and kick it where the sun don’t shine.  I’ve come across many stutterers who insist they’ll never amount to anything and don’t bother trying. The Birdman’s 25 random things should inspire you to live free. As @stutteringme says, stutter on your own terms!

1: Full name is Michael Albert John Dodd
I named after my grandfather and a hockey player I think

2: I was kidnapped when I was a kid and was rescued by a SWAT team in Brampton

3: I was adopted and was told my real mother was my sister and then I was told the truth by my grandparents when I was 12.

4:I have a real fascination with bugs but can’t stand to be near them

5: I intend to swim with sharks in the next 5 years

6: My goal is to run a marathon in 5 years & climb a mountain in 10 years

7: I have been engaged twice before

8: I dye my hair red as a sign of who I am at core. One who goes against the grain and will not submit to authority

9: My favorite time of year is fall.

10:Everytime I see a shooting star, I wish for “World peace”or for everyone on the planet to know a heartbeat of true happiness hope that would change the world

11: I hope to accomplish something great that’ll change the course of human history

12: I believe in humanity still.

13: I believe in pyshics & the paranormal: Seen too much weird shit to not believe in it

14: I recently traveled to Washington,DC on a whim to witness apart of history in the making because it would be “cool”. I live in the moment when it comes to making memories

15: I tried skateboarding to much failure but love the skater culture and the decks

16: I’ve had hot chocolate with Douh Gilmour of the Toronto Maple leafs when I was a kid

17: I have no idea on who my real father is so I see it as a chance to become more then the sum of my DNA and the ability to become whoeever I choose to be

18: I fear remarkably little and believe that fear is an enemy you choose to make stronger and so you choose to make yourself weak if you give into it

19: I have been beaten up by Neo Nazi’s so bad I was beaten I thought I cracked ribs

20: To those that have hurt & betrayed me & made fun of me, I would do anything for, including taking a bullet for because I believe that faith in humanity

21: My only regret is that I wish I had loved those who loved me even more but hope I made a positive change in their lives and wish them well in future endeavors

22: I am chippawa of Nawash, Objiway Indian and of Clan Bear

23: My tattoos symbolize the defeats in my life so that I may make those into victories and be reminded of what I can accomplish

24: I have been interrogated by the police for a crime I didn’t commit for 4-5 hours

25: I have been suspended from school over 10 times but not once for fighting for being a “Political agitator” aka troublemaker and prankster

5 February, 2009 update: I recevied this awesome thank you from the Birtdman!

Lots of links lately, eh? I was alerted by Stuttering.Me of a Canadian poet by the name of Jordan Scott who is a fellow stutterer. After a little poking around, I came across this CBC show about how language is processed in the Broca’s Area of the brain. It’s very interesting and you’re taken on an audio journey into the brain as we learn how, well, language is processed. The subject turns to stuttering a little after the halfway mark where we hear an interview with Jordan Scott as he talks about how it feels like to live with a stutter, its awkwardness, etc. He also offers a clever little trick to prevent you from stuttering an order.

Edit (January 28, 2009): I’ve thought it over and realize that clever trick he mentioned (humming before giving an order) is really a secondary. We want to stay away from those!

Stutter Radio is a talk show about stuttering on BlogTalkRadio. I try to catch it but it’s on Monday nights when I’m at the gym. So I listen on the podcast feed. Anyhoo, stuttering link #18 is an episode of Stutter Radio where the host and caller talk about nutrition, the obesity problem and eating habits.

You’re probably wondering what does this has to do with stuttering. The caller is a stutterer who’s in school to become a nutritionist. This is a conversation/a show/whatever, with a stutterer in a good light. Not being the butt of any jokes and not being implied as incompetent and nervous.

Instead, link #18 offers an example of a stutterer who is confident, smart, has a bright future and is just like everyone else.

Have a listen (and subscribe or call in).

Job interviews are hard because you really don’t know what questions to anticipate and in order to give the best impression ever, you have to reply quickly. No uuuuuuhs and uuuuuums. Those two can be very difficult to us stutterers. One of my secondaries is uh-ing and um-ing and I tend to stutter or block on the very first sound of my reply.

Unfortunately, there is only so much we can do about our stutter but we can be prepared for the job interview. Never, ever wing it. Regardless if you stutter or not.

There are plenty— PLENTY— of websites all over the Internet giving advice and expert tips on how to prepare for a job interview, so what’s another one? :)

For link #17, I share this page over at About.com.  Job Interview Questions and Answers provides a check list of potential questions you’ll be asked. It goes further— how to best reply to them! The name of the game here is preparedness. Don’t memorize your answers but be prepared so that you give a fantastic impression.

As a bonus, our stuttering will help us further stand out from the other hundred applicants. So make sure they associate your stuttering with "Yes, he/she certainly has all the skills and talents necessary to fulfill the position and it’s clear his/her stuttering doesn’t get in the way of his/her performance".

As discussed in episode 32 of my podcast, Stuttering to your advantage , well, we can use our stuttering to our advantage!

Greg Snyder, co-founder of StutterTalk has a twitter account where among other things, he shares fantastic links about stuttering. Yesterday, my eye caught on this gem, Your Choices Determine Your Happiness, by Keith Harrel.

Keith is a professional speaker and a person who stutters. Thanks to a fantastic teacher and terriffic mother, Keith learned at a very early age the importance of having a positive attitude about his stuttering.

"My mother taught me then and there that attitude is a choice. When I told her I couldn’t go back to school, she listened and understood what was contributing to that negative attitude. She was able to listen to the pain that fueled my fears and humiliation. She then gave me the opportunity to choose a new attitude.

You have choice. You can accept an attitude of humiliation and fear or you can take on an attitude of action. You can be a victim or a victor. You can let life run you over or you can take it on"

I highly recommend this read and I also recommend you sign up on Twitter if you haven’t already done so and follow Greg. And me!

Here’s a video of a CBS news clip about stuttering from the CBS website. It talks about the struggles and pain of stuttering through clips of people sharing their experiences at the National Stuttering Association’s annual conference. I can relate to each and every single one of them and wish I was able to attend. there is something fantastic that always happens whenever I hear other stutterers talk about the same experiences I went through (hence, my podcast!). Note the various professions these stutterers have despite their speech.

Sorry, there’s a 15-30 second ad at the beginning and the sound is only one the left channel for some reason.

Watch CBS Videos Online

So I said, "May I ask you a question?"
She turned to me, stopped walking and said, "Okay."
So I said, "I just printed our boarding passes and I was wondering w-w-w-w-w- (that’s right, I had a block on the word "which").
As I was trying to get the word out, she said, "TALK, TALK, TALK! I DON’T HAVE TIME!"
At the same time that she was interrupting me she was backing away from me. When she was finished with her remark she turned her back to me and walked away.

I think that pretty much speaks for itself.

I’m sharing his post with you because he makes an excellent point about the power of networking when looking for work, partnerships, etc. Fine tuning your search— the value of looking for work on a job board vs. going out there and networking. Ezra also talks about the various types of networking (online, events, etc.).

I recently subscribed to Ezra’s blog* and its quickly becoming one of my favourites. I really like his writing style and his articles help you improve yourself. I also like how he mixes life lessons he learned from his family. A recurring theme is his mother’s advice of “you never know”.

Though Ezra doesn’t blog about stuttering, his posts can certainly be related to coping with it. For example, I also recommend another recent posting entitled How to Successfully Pretend to be Successful. Image is everything which, in my opinion, can overcome any misconceptions about stuttering.

*technically, it isn’t a blog. It’s a Posterous account. But still. It looks like a blog, it acts like a blog. It has an rss. It’s a blog.

Porky’s stuttering never bothered me as a kid nor now because none of the other characters made fun of his stuttering. And Porky never showed that it bothered him.

I’ve never seen “My Favourite Duck” before so I was bowled over when I saw Porky get a little miffed at his stutter! You can see it on Youtube 2:36 mark:

What I like is Porky was only lightly miffed in a “what a pain in the arse stuttering is” sort of way that I sometimes react to my stutters. He didn’t beat himself over it or feel like a failure. Granted, there was no room in the script for it but still :)

Even the world’s greatest speakers get nervous but we never know because they are appearing confident. So can we!

This is a great interview. We learn there is nothing wrong about being afraid and how we can overcome social anxiety.

This is another opportunity to hear how I really stutter outside of the comfort of my own recording.

One of the mysteries of stuttering that I experience is the fact that my stuttering decreases whenever I record an episode for my show. I was interviewed by Jay Moonah on my way back from PodCamp Montreal, last weekend and if you want to hear a sample of my everyday stuttering, you can hear me at the end of his show.

I recommend listening to the entire episode (and subscribing if you’re interested in media and marketing) because Jay’s podcast, Media Driving is a great show.

Joe Biden has the potential of becoming the next Vice President of the US. Although even up here in Canada people are watching this election very closely, I’m not really into politics (I do vote and I’m greatful to our vetrans for the right, I’m just tired of all the media hoopla and mud sligning).

Finding out that Joe Biden is a stutterer certainly got my attention!

Actually, Mr. Biden used to stutter as a kid and teenager. I found out about this on the Stuttering Chat mailing list where someone mentioned that Joe Biden was a keynote speaker at a National Stuttering Association convention a few years ago. in his speech, he shared his personal experiences with stuttering.

I don’t know what ‘used to’ means exactly. Maybe he hides it well or is a master at his spech tools. Or maybe he actually did outgrow his stutter (is that even possible?).  I think it’s an interesting addition to what everyone is referring this election as historic. A black man and a woman (Hillary Clinton) were racing against each other. Both a first. Now there’s a stutter (former?) in the mix :)

The media, such as NPR, the New York Times and the BBC, is already talking about Joe Biden’s stuttering. From around the web, I learned that as a stutterer, Joe, would memorize the pages of his books before reading them aloud in front of the class (that would have never, ever worked for me!). Part of his regular pratice was reciting long poems in front of the mirror.

In college, Joe Biden regularly practiced his speech with a fellow stutterer.

Also of interest is the speculation among my mailing list members that Barack Obama also stutters. Wouldn’t that be quite the twist? Leaders of the US (well, the rest of the free world as well, I guess) are stutterers. True, we won’t hear them stutter, but still. Baby steps, I always say.

I haven’t seen a video of Obama’s announcement but I read that he mentioned Biden’s stutter and stuttering nickname as a kid. Yup, all this puts stuttering into the lime light. I hope.

That happened in the UK when Gareth Gates, a severe stammerer (as the Brits call it) won Pop Idol. I have a friend who went to school in England during that time and he told me that whenever he revealed that he stuttered, he was an instant celebrity.

Here it is!

The interview of me, Mark Blevis and Melinda Mason on CBC Radio One‘s Sounds Like Canada. Mark produces Just One More Book with his wife, Andrea while Melinda produces My Marilyn, a podcast devoted to the legendary Marilyn Monroe.

Click this beautiful link to listen to the interview.

Welcome to Stuttering is cool. A new podcast for stutterers and everyone interested in knowing about stuttering.

The site looks pretty bare but that’s only because it needs content! In other words, I haven’t recorded my first show yet.

So what is this p-p-podcast all about?

Well, it all started with me looking to meet other people who stutter. The Internet makes it a lot easier to find my peers beyond my geographical area (Toronto, Canada). In fact, Facebook has made it even easier. There are a few groups about stuttering.

Ok, good. But what is this podcast ab…bout?

Simple. I have an e-mail address you can send an mp3 of yourself talking; coolstutter@gmail.com.

WHY??

Because I know how great it is to meet other people who stutter and hear how they’ve experienced the same things as you. And me!

So what am I sup-p-p-posed to t…talk about?

Anything you like. Talk about your interests, your hobbies, something funny or surreal that happened to you today, a movie review, your negative and positive experiences with stuttering– whatever you like. As far as I know, there is no cure for stuttering so why not have some fun and meet fellow stutterers even if it’s virtual?

You can call as often as you like! The number is 24/7 and it’s all computer-based. Which means I won’t be woken up by a phone ringing if you call in the middle of the night.

You can be anonymous if you like.

What if I stutter?

It’s totally fine. Because we’re all stutterers! You’ll hear me stutter in my outgoing message. We’re just good friends you haven’t met yet. We all share the same experiences and we will all learn from each other.

Why is it called “Stuttering is cool“?

Because some women find stuttering sexy :) Besides, we’re cool people if we go through life with the challenge of stuttering and still succeed. What doesn’t kill us only makes us stronger, right?

So how do I l-l-listen to your show?

I need to record it first :) I have a day job and another site to take care of so it will take me a bit of time to record and edit a show. However, I can’t have a show without content. And that content is… your messages! I understand if you’re skeptical and want to wait until a few shows have been posted but if you want to be on my 1st episode give me a call :)

I hope to have a show up before December. Keep your eyes here or subscribe to my RSS feed. I’ll also post it on iTunes.

Can people who don’t stutter listen to your show?

Of course! They can also call in, too! I know there are people out there who are curious to know what causes stuttering and what can be done. Maybe they have a brother or sister or child or aunt or co-worker who stutters. You get the idea.