Stuttering and Blog of the Week: The Stuttering Brain
This week’s featured blog is The Stuttering Brain written by Tom Weidig, a theoretical physicist who’s been stuttering since age three. I came across Dr. Weidig’s blog on a routine search for genetic information on the web and found that he has an article on the genetics of stuttering planned.
Since I don’t know much about persistent developmental stuttering (PDS), his post listing the biggest obstacles to a better understanding of the disorder was particularly helpful:
Five obstacles you have to live with:
1. No-one dies from stuttering.
2. Brain is a complex system with many different interacting layers.
3. You can make little money from PDS.
4. Most people are victim to logical fallacies.
5. PDS is more like a high crime rate in a city than a broken down computer.
Dr. Weidig has a great sense of humor too. The title of his latest post is - M—mmmmmerry Xmas!.
Informative blogs like The Stuttering Brain are hard to come by, so go take a look and learn more about stuttering aka stammering, which affects about 1% of the adult population.
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POSTED IN: Featured Genetics and Health Blogs
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5 opinions for Stuttering and Blog of the Week: The Stuttering Brain
mayfieldga
Dec 25, 2005 at 8:38 pm
I was a stutterer. I feel there is another explanation for stuttering that has not been looked into. I see all of us as acclimated layers of mental frictions, what I see as average stress. I feel as children, when it usually begins, some of us are given many and some more substantial layers of mental frictions we are not able to rationally deal with. I feel as layers of mental frictions accumulate, it also creates higher muscle tension. I feel this relative higher muscle tension can constrict the diaphragm to the point of impeding air flow. This is where the stuttering begins. I feel over time not only is the child dealing with the higher muscle tension but also the growing habit of th diaphragm tightening up from this problem.
I feel we can learn to more permanently reduce layers of mental frictions that have created the highe muscle tension and also over time reacclimate the diaphragm to not tighten up from habit.
My complete process of healling my stuttering problem is free for all on request by e-mail. Older version with theory on site at http://learningtheory.homestead.com/Theory.html
Hsien Hsien Lei, PhD
Dec 25, 2005 at 8:43 pm
mayfieldga: Thank you for the comment and for sharing your experience. I have no way of judging the various methods for overcoming stuttering/stammering, but I’m glad to hear that you have overcome it.
TonyP.
Jan 20, 2006 at 2:09 pm
I recently started my own blog on stuttering because I could not find many others…but Dr. Weidig’s is one of my favorites. I will be a lawyer in a few years and people often ask me why I’d choose such a career, one that will definitely place me into many stressfull speaking situations.
I guess I’m just a glutton for punishment, I guess. *laugh* I love the law and always determined that, despite my stutter, I will not be held back if I can help it. I can’t control how others respond to my stutter…but I can control what I do in my own life. I agree with you…Dr. Weidig has a great sense of humor and his blog has been very helpful in my research. Thanks!
Genetics and Health » Gene Talk #1: business|bytes|genes|molecules
Jul 16, 2006 at 5:23 am
[…] For the past year, I have featured blogs every Sunday that shared personal stories and opinions about various health topics, including ADD, bulimia and binge eating, and stuttering. Today, I’m introducing a new series called Gene Talk which will feature excerpts from blogs talking about genetics, genes, and/or DNA. […]
Sara
Mar 11, 2008 at 2:50 am
Thank you for the nice blog! I would like to invite you to share your great experiences and suggestions with other stutterers about speech therapy, stuttering medication, books, fluency devices, stammering associations and local support groups on http://www.stutteringforum.net
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