Stuttering Teen Alleges Discrimination, Provokes Controversy

Two recent New York Times articles have raised important questions about how educators should handle stuttering students in the classroom. Included: expert tips on how educators can approach this issue.

In October 2011, an article by Richard Perez-Pena told the story of Philip Garber, Jr., a 16-year-old who is taking college classes at County College of Morris in New Jersey, and who has a stutter. After the first few sessions of his history class, the professor asked that he pose questions before or after class, so that he would not “infringe on other students’ time.”

The article, “Stutterer Speaks Up in Class: His Professor Says Keep Quiet,” is available at http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/11/education/11stutter.html?_r=1 for a limited time.

The article explains that about 5 percent of people stutter at some point, and about one percent stutter as adults, according to the National Institutes of Health. The current medical view of stuttering is that it is caused by physiological and hereditary factors, though emotions are known to intensify the problem.

Philip’s story highlights the sad fact that the general public may not recognize stuttering as a disability, and raises an important question for educators: How can a teacher balance the needs of an individual with those of the group?

An October 2011 blog post by Jacques Steinberg tried to answer this question. The post, “Hand Raised High, a Stutterer Struggles to be Heard in Class,” is available at http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/11/hand-raised-high-a-stutterer/ for a limited time.

Readers of the post shared a variety of strong opinions on the matter:

• "The teacher was not only wrong, but cruel and abusive. She should be nowhere near a classroom."
• "The teacher had no right to single him out. She should have made a class statement asking everyone to hold questions until the end."
• "Although, yes, every child should have a right to be heard, every teacher should have the right to control the class for the benefit of all."
• "I’m not making fun of the kid, nor would I ever; it just took him a couple minutes to get his point across, which caused [the teacher] to lose time to teach. Most teachers would have done the same or if not, would have handled it worse."
• "It is all too easy to judge the teacher, the student, or both. It seems to me the larger issue is how to balance the needs of individual students with those of the group."

In response to the New York Times coverage, the nonprofit Stuttering Foundation offered eight tips to help educators serve stuttering students in the classroom:

• Don't tell the student "slow down" or "just relax."
• Don't complete words for the student or talk for him or her.
• Help all members of the class learn to take turns talking and listening. All students—and especially those who stutter—find it much easier to talk when there are few interruptions and they have the listener's attention.
• Expect the same quality and quantity of work from the student who stutters as the one who doesn't.
• Speak with the student in an unhurried way, pausing frequently.
• Convey that you are listening to the content of the message, not how it is said.
• Have a one-on-one conversation with the student who stutters about needed accommodations in the classroom. Respect the student's needs, but do not be enabling.
• Don't make stuttering something to be ashamed of. Talk about stuttering just like any other matter.

These tips and other helpful resources can be found on the Stuttering Foundation's Web site, www.StutteringHelp.org.

What's your take on how the professor handled this issue? Join the discussion!

Article by Celine Provini, EducationWorld Editor
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