I watched the King's Speech for the first time the other day and came away very impressed. Colin Firth deserves an Oscar for that role. As I watched it, another feeling came over me, this one I had not thought about in a while. I used to stutter also as a kid. Back in kindergarten, I would have the hardest time trying to say certain letters. This mainly came down to words that started with the letter s,t, and p that I remember. My mother would get me up earlier than the other kids and we would practice in the living room.
One thing in the movie that I do remember was the instructor asking the king, " Do you stutter when you read?" The answer came back "of course not, its in my head." I would do the same thing. Before I would say something, I would recite it over and over in my head and it would always sound perfect, but when the time came to say the actual sentence more often than not the stutter would come back. I would try so hard to say the words and my tongue would feel heavy in my mouth almost like it was overexerting itself.
My mother bought me this book called "Pop goes the weasel." We would read this over and over on the couch. Pop was one of the hardest words for me to say. I eventually overcame this by talking really fast. It used to get so bad that people could not understand the words coming out of my mouth.
I reflect on this not only for the stuttering problem but also for the help my mother showed me during this time. Now being a parent, I realize how hard it is to see your son/daughter having problems and you want to help them as much as you can.
I really recommend this movie as I think he really tries to show the audience how it is to deal with a speech impediment.
Next post that I write will be a little more humorous, I promise.
I really loved that entry, Matthew. This was meaningful and poignant. It brought back memories of my own experience with my son, John, who I believe had dyslexia problems. He could not read well, and had a lot of problems learning. Every night after dinner we would sit together and I would work with him so that he could learn to read. Eventually, he outgrew it or something but he was able to do well in school thereafter. I no longer have this son in this world and it does my heart good to think of the time I spent with him, teaching and loving his dear soul. I'm sure your own mother feels the same about you and how precious you are to her, too. We all are imperfect in different ways and pray for charity, to have her sway in our lives.
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