A STARRING role in a short film can transform the life of a child who
stutters, say American psychologists. Melissa Bray and Thomas Kehle of the
University of Connecticut told a meeting of the American Psychological
Association in Chicago this month that when children were shown footage from
videos doctored to remove their stuttering they were able to imitate their
screen persona and speak more fluently.
Psychologists have used a similar technique to help athletes such as
basketball players to shoot more accurately. Success with athletes prompted the
Connecticut team to try it on stutterers.
Stuttering can have many causes, both physical and psychological, but Bray
says it is often triggered by some specific cue. 鈥淪ome people stutter only at
school, at work or with certain people,鈥� she says. Under those particular
circumstances children may come to believe they cannot help stuttering and
simply give in to whatever triggers the problem. The psychologists hoped the
film would persuade the children that they could learn to overcome it.
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Kehle and Bray enlisted the help of seven children who had problems with
stuttering in school. The team videotaped them during a normal class as teachers
asked questions, following the researchers鈥� script. After the class, the
students practised reading the answers until they were able to repeat them
without stuttering.
The team then edited the film, removing parts when a child stuttered and
inserting the perfect version. Over the next six weeks, the children watched
鈥渢heir movie鈥� seven times. After the treatment they stuttered less than half as
often, and one child who had stuttered 40 per cent of spoken syllables tripped
on only 9 per cent. Another stopped stuttering altogether.
鈥淐learly this is not a cure-all for stuttering,鈥� says Bray. 鈥淏ut it鈥檚
surprising how well it works.鈥�