[ti:New University Center to Treat Stuttering] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.04]About three million people in the United States, [00:03.28]including a presidential candidate, [00:06.28]find they sometimes stutter. [00:09.88]It is a condition that causes people to repeat [00:12.72]the beginning sound of words, [00:14.64]or whole words while speaking. [00:18.24]At times, they even have trouble saying a word. [00:22.32]People who stutter know exactly what they would like to say [00:26.84]but have trouble producing a normal flow of speech, [00:30.40]making it difficult to communicate with others. [00:34.84]Arthur Blank is the owner of the Falcons, [00:37.72]an American football team in Atlanta, Georgia. [00:42.16]He stutters. [00:44.24]Other members of his family also stutter. [00:48.00]Blank said, "Defining communication by how fluent you are [00:52.60]doesn't get at the freedom — the freeing of the inner person, [00:56.92]the inner soul, the inner spirit, the inner mind, [01:01.56]the intellect of what each person has to say and feel." [01:07.64]Last week, he gave the University of Texas at Austin $20 million [01:14.08]to create a new center for research and education into stuttering. [01:20.36]It is called the Arthur M. Blank Center for Stuttering Research and Education. [01:27.12]Courtney Byrd, a professor of speech, [01:29.84]language and hearing sciences at the university, will lead the center. [01:36.04]She said, "Our focus is on the person, not on the stuttering. [01:41.88]We're teaching people as young as 3 years of age [01:45.40]to adults over the age of 90, you can communicate effectively, [01:51.24]and you can do so even if you continue to stutter." [01:56.36]Last February, former Vice President Joe Biden [02:00.16]spoke at a campaign event in New Hampshire. [02:04.44]Biden spoke about his experience of learning to live with stuttering as a child. [02:10.52]He talked about the anger he felt at school. [02:14.00]He said other students and a teacher laughed at him for his stuttering. [02:21.00]"It has nothing to do with your intellectual makeup," Biden said. [02:26.40]Brayden Harrington, a 13-year-old boy [02:29.52]from Concord, New Hampshire, was at the event. [02:34.40]Harrington is a person who stutters, too. [02:37.76]Biden asked Harrington to talk more about his experience. [02:43.00]Biden shared that he had controlled his own stuttering [02:46.68]by looking in the mirror while speaking. [02:50.12]The presidential candidate also gave the boy a speech he had prepared. [02:55.96]It had markings on its pages [02:58.20]showing where Biden would take breaks and pause. [03:02.64]That way, he said, words would come out more smoothly. [03:06.84]Amber Doctrow works with students on speech problems [03:10.48]at Montgomery County Public Schools in Silver Spring, Maryland. [03:16.16]She told VOA that stuttering often begins in early childhood. [03:21.04]Some children outgrow it but others will not. [03:26.36]She said a person who stutters [03:28.36]may have thoughts that stop them from speaking, like: [03:31.84]"Oh well, I am going to stutter and then this is going to happen, [03:35.96]I'm going to stutter, and then they'll think that I'm stupid, [03:39.40]or I'm going to stutter and then I won't be able to say what I want to say." [03:44.68]Or they may move their body or take a deep breath to try to stop the stutter. [03:51.00]These things may only work for a little while [03:54.12]and then they stop working. [03:57.04]Instead, she said, speech pathologists teach the person who stutters [04:02.80]to overcome the problem by addressing the thoughts [04:07.00], feelings, and behaviors of stuttering, [04:10.76]such as by reducing tension while speaking. [04:15.36]"So, for instance, a cancellation [04:17.48]is when you reduce the tension in your speech after you stutter. [04:21.84]So, if I were to say, p-p-p-p-p–peach, [04:27.44]and I have this tension in my speech when I stutter on that word, [04:31.48]I could then go back and try it again with less tension: p-p-p-p- peach. [04:37.80]And so, I may still stutter on the word but I'm doing it with less tension." [04:43.92]The U.S. National Institutes of Health says [04:47.00]although there is no cure for stuttering, [04:49.68]there are several treatments available. [04:53.28]The health agency advises the following methods: [04:57.40]Provide many chances for the child to speak, [05:01.12]especially when the child is excited and has a lot to say. [05:06.60]Listen carefully when the child speaks. [05:09.32]Do not try to complete the child's sentences. [05:13.20]And speak slowly. [05:15.84]Talk openly and honestly to the child about stuttering [05:19.84]if he or she brings up the subject. [05:23.16]Let the child know that it is fine. [05:26.28]Adults and older children with stuttering [05:29.32]should learn to speak slowly and regulate their breathing. [05:34.32]In the end, Doctrow said being a person who stutters [05:38.36]does not mean you cannot be an effective communicator. [05:42.52]Joe Biden is one of many politicians, [05:45.60]actors and teachers who stutter. [05:49.32]I'm Jill Robbins. 更多听力请访问51VOA.COM