European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - May 27, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse Pass the stars and stripes tuesday May 27, stutterers strive for understanding by judy5arasoiin medical writer Vand Suthi Germany when his commander called Over the intercom sgt. Crone fully raced to the commander s desk before he could finish speaking. When Pell needed a Stock control number rather than Telephone the 5lnrc. He drove aver. Hearing Felly s deep melodic idling or his Story makes it difficult to understand that his problem was and still is stuttering. It s not magic Petty said a his now fluent speech. He spent a year in speech therapy ii the fwd Svihl army regional medical Center and then went to the Walter Reed army medical Center near Washington for a one month intensive program. He continues to Monitor his targets basically making sure he breathes properly connects his words and slows his Rale of speech. After struggling with words most of their lives. Petty and other adult stutterers Are getting help. Besides land Stuhl. The army Hospital a Nuernberg and he air Force regional medical Center in Wiesbaden have programs. Speech pathologists have not been Able to pinpoint the cause of stuttering. Debra Gordon and Susan Abbott Cassa speech and language pathologists at Lan Stuhl. Said studies have shown that stutterers have physiological differences in Muscles. Doctors say stuttering May be accompanied by rapid Eye blinking head jerking fool tapping and grimacing. A person also May use. Tiller sounds such As the biggest misconception about stuttering the studies snid is the belief that its Root cause is emotion Al. Emotional problems particularly embarrassment May develop As a result of stuttering and increase the difficulty but they Are not the cause the speech pathologists said. Stutterers arc not necessarily weak and they re not said Abbot Cason who is the speech and language pathology consultant to 7tt medical come. Stutterers can be fluent in different situations. It s something that people Don t understand Gor Don said. Gordon and Abbot Cason said there is no lifetime cure for stuttering there arc techniques that people can practice to improve their fluency. The iwo have found that Many soldiers seek help after failing their promotion boards because of their speech difficulties. Three soldiers recently talked about heir problems with stuttering. In addition to Petty of the Headquarters of 2nd Region criminal investigation div Mann Heim they were Sec. Lawrence Boyd s76lh Ord co and staff sgt. George Barnes no Academy 32nd army air defense come Lan Stuhl they passed their boards evea with their speech difficulties. But they wanted More. They wanted to Stop stuttering. Although Boyd 40, came Back from the Waller Reed program speaking perfectly he Learned that he will Al ways have problems. After a class you re perfect. But As time goes on you have a tendency to fall. I d practice during Chow time. It gels tiring he said. Then i found out that if is Woholo do l. Emmett a fill or. Staff sol. George Barnes demonstrates a stutterer s Aid a delayed auditory feedback unit. It introduces a 20 a 200-Milliucond delay Between the hearer s speech Ami what be bears. This to acts the wearer to Cut Down his speaking Speed in order to avoid hearing a meaningless Echo or what a has just said. You Don t practice every Day you begin to a ii Vou have to begin the whole thing Over again. Boyd stuttered throughout the interview and when he could t say boy he substituted he was fluent Only when he became angry with himself and said Man give me a there Are some times when 1 Don t have any prob lems he said. The time i find it Odd is when i m under pressure. I have to Lake my time Boyd said it took him a Long time to get Over the embarrassment of stuttering. As soon As i conquered All of that i d tackle All the jobs other Guys say that arc hard i said. Boyd is bothered by soldiers who Don t have a stuttering problem but who fail their promotion boards. "ltlcarsmcup,"hesnid,"iflcnndoit,allofyoucaii." Barnes 30. Remembers having n stutter most of his life it becomes a problem especially when he has a see his commander. It s always gotten in the Way of work you avoid certain situations you should t avoid. It holds you Back Barnes said. But he said his speech difficulties Mads him work harder. I Don t Csc it As an excuse o not get the Job done. You Matte those privates respect you Barnes said some people Are insensitive and introduce him with this is sgt Barnes and then St Utica. Sometimes he gels weird looks. I used to gel angry because of the reactions. I walk away i boil inside he said. I Don t stutter because i want to be funny.". Besides he sessions at Landsi Uhl and practising his speech techniques Barnes runs to relax which he believes a cups him i plan to lick this thing he said. He does t always stutter. During an interview he spoke with Only a slight hesitation that would not be noticed unless someone knew he had a stuttering problem. During his promotion Board he grasped his chair tightly and worked up a Fine anger. He did t stutter. Petty 24, also had a technique that helped him speak fluently during Tough times. When i had something really really important i d change my voice i d talk with a country accent he said. Petty could t talk on the Telephone. So he worked harder. If that meant driving to Sec the person he needed to talk to then he drove. I wanted to work faster than i was i was having to waste Lime by driving he said. It look me hours when it could have taken a minute. It kept me from More responsibility. I still got things Doc. It just look me longer Petty said. Now with continued practice of he techniques he Learned at lands Ubl and Walter Reed Petty Speaks fluently. He warned his commander however that . If i know something and want to say something i can say it without shying Back Petty said. Petty also ran into his share of insensitive people. People Tike to hear you stutter. It makes them think they re perfect he said. I used to have privates make fun he s a sergeant and he can t speak " How should someone act with a person who stutters ? the experts said maintain Eye Contact and Don t finish the person s wish somebody would say Stop Barnes said. I d rather they come out and say slow Down take it easy it s like magic and you re rolling again As Tad As it s been tames said stuttering has t been All negative. It makes you try a Little harder. You try a hell of a lot harder he said. It makes you tolerant of other people. You say i m going to treat my neighbor right " Pitburg s air plane Wash keeps fighters shining by Jean Albright a Tburg Bureau Pitburg a Germany for some it s just one of those things about being in the military. You gotta do what you gotta do. For others it s part of taking Good care of the air plane they do everything else for. Once about every 60 Days even the most sophisticated dual role fighter aircraft can be cancelled to gel Well dirty. So even the most highly trained and experienced Crew chiefs and technicians Are drafted to take up a scrub Brush. Somebody has to do it but i wish it was t me said sgt. Brenda Burkhart. Dressed for the watery work in Green fatigues and a Towd turban. Normally she s a weapons Load Crew chief with the 36th aircraft Genera Tion so. Some people actually do Volunteer for it though. To get out of something else for there Are also those who work closely with a single plane and Lake a sincere interest in keeping it clean she said. Some Crew chiefs Wilt Sec that their plane is dirty and will Call up to get it in for a washing. They May not Volunteer to do it themselves airman Gregory Rodriguez one of the Crew chiefs who work mainly with a single aircraft in the 525lh aircraft main unit is Dutiful about the task. Part of the Job he said briefly i Don t mind washing my own plane anyhow. I Don t know about All these others. Two planes a Day Are moved for washing into a converted hangar under the supervision of corrosion control specialist tech sgt. Thomas Harmon when aircraft were More Metal you Only had to Shine them up Marmon said. Now they re painted with Tonti a erosive paint and that has to be scrubbed ceiling harnesses keep Inch Nicias Lur cd scrubbers from hitting he ground should they lose their fooling White walking atop a wet plane. The last two who fell just touched Down on their toes he said. It s panic while they re hanging within inches of the door but it just takes iwo Steps up on a ladder to release its photo Rcv to Tiv bundled in rubber from neck to loot goggles protecting his eyes from caustic cleaners am secured sins Ina. . Leonar Anc a soap Slick secure sons i unpleasantly Long fall by a safely harness. Leonard Zygun scrubs us Way Serosa a fighter plan Flag at the blk Hurt plane Wash
