Stutter No More OoCities（不再结巴OoCities）.docVIP

STUTTER NO MORE BY DR. MARTIN F. SCHWARTZ A NOTE TO THE READER Nineteen ninety-eight marks the twenty-sixth anniversary of my association with New York University Medical Center. During most of these years I have led two lives. The first has been my association with the Department of Surgery and basic research on birth defects, particularly the problems of cleft lip and palate. My second, which emerged from the first, started twenty-two years ago when I accidentally discovered the physical cause of stuttering and developed a treatment for it. The birth of my second life was not without incident. When I entered it, research colleagues were there waiting, contending that stuttering was not my area, that I should stay with basic research, and that direct, clinical work with stutterers represented a form of prostitution that would destroy my career. Clinicians, on the other hand, contended that I was an interloper, that I should remain in my ivory tower and stay off their turf. They even went so far as to threaten legal action! I listened to both groups for quite a while before making the decision to forge ahead. In retrospect, I was correct, and the ensuing years have borne witness to a revolution in both our understanding and treatment of stuttering - all stimulated by my initial discovery of its physical cause. As I have continued to work with stutterers I have been struck by their similarities. There is no difference treating a person from France, Nigeria, Japan or the US. The stories and emotions are the same. What follows is a compilation of experiences gleaned from many patients; it represents the voice of the archetypical stutterer speaking about his life; it is why I feel so deeply about the problem and why I continue to work personally with stutterers whenever I can. Imagine that from the time you were a child you stuttered with everyone. Not that you wanted to stutter, mind you, you just couldnt help yourself. As a result you often went to great lengths