A man with a stutter is on a train
He asks his neighbour: "e-e-excuse m-me, wh-wh-what t-t-time i-i-is i-i-it?"
The lady next to him remains quiet. This repeats a few times until a friendly person takes a pity and answers the stuttering man.
After the stuttering man leaves the train, the friendly person asks the silent lady why she didn't answer the stuttering man.
The silent lady answers: "a-a-and g-get b-b beaten-up?!"
Many people stammer, and it is common among people who are living with dementia. Indeed, it may be an early sign of brain disease.
One of the many signs that a person is living with dementia is that they may have difficulty with oral communication.
Many of us stutter, stammer or leave long pauses in sentences as we struggle to find the words to fill the gaps. Sometimes we are unable to finish the sentence at all because we have forgotten the point we were trying to make.
This is MOST frustrating, both for the speaker and the audience.
I have noticed that, since “lockdown” my stuttering has increased when I speak with my wife. I have no great problems when I am on the phone or a webinar, so I guess it has something to do with the fact that I am relaxed when speaking with my wife, and less likely to rehearse what I am going to say inside my head prior to articulating it.
I stuttered as a lad until the age of around nine or ten, and it’s disappointing to see it starting up again.
I only hope that it doesn’t interfere with my public speaking, as that plays a major part in providing me with self-esteem and a purpose.
It’s very tempting to finish a sentence for someone who is stuck. We want them to move on. It’s maddening. But please don’t do it. When you are searching for a word that is on the very tip of your tongue, and someone interjects with a different word, the word you were searching for and had almost grasped escapes forever.
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