Remembering the Scatman

Today, March 13, is the birthday of John Paul Larkin or better known to many people as Scatman John. He was a famous American Jazz singer known for his unique fusion of scat singing and Euro Dance. He was also known for his severe stuttering problem. He was a recipient of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association's Annie Glenn Award for outstanding service to the stuttering community and earned his name into the National Stuttering Association Hall of Fame. He died of lung cancer at his home in Los Angeles at the age of 57

Today we remember the life of this wonderful man, probably the best scat singer that ever lived. He never stuttered when he sang. He learned how to turn his biggest adversary to his biggest asset. His biggest single, "Scatman(Ski-Ba-Bop-Ba-Dop-Bop)", is a song intended to inspire children who stuttered to overcome adversity. Many of his songs seem to be related to the subject such as "Take your time," "Let it Go," "Su Su Su Super."

All stutterers have their good times where they don't stutter at all and their bad time when they stutter severely. Scatman is no exception. There was an interesting situation while conducting promotional interviews for the album Scatman's World, he became so fluent that one journalist remarked that he hadn't heard Larkin stutter once and asked if he was merely using the stuttering community "as a gimmick to further [his] career". He was shocked to find himself for the first time ashamed of his fluency rather than his stutter.

In the remaining days of his career and life, Larkin suffered from lung cancer. Yet he still continued making music. In a 1996 interview, he commented "I hope that the kids, while they sing along to my songs or dance to it, feel that life is not that bad at all. Even for just a minute."

Rest In Peace Scatman.

Ancient Myths

In my previous post, I showed some very common misconceptions that occur today,
so lets now have some fun and see what people of long ago thought about this speech impediment:

African American Myths:
The mother eating improper foods when breast feeding the infant.
Allowing an infant to look in the mirror.
Tickling the child too much.
Cutting the child's hair before he/she says his/her first words.
The mother seeing a snake during pregnancy
The mother dropping a baby.
The child being scared as a baby.
The child being bitten by a dog
The work of the devil.

South African:
Baby left out in the rain
Failure to inform ancestors of imminent childbirth
emotional trauma
Tickling the baby too much
Karma (Indian)
Child has a short tongue

Myths about stuttering

I'm sure we have all heard these more than once in our lives. Here is a list of the most common misconceptions:

Myth: People who stutter are stupid.
Reality: There is absolutely no connection between stuttering and intelligence. Some people who stutter are extremely bright, others are average, and others are slower than average. People who believe that stuttering is a sign of stupidity are simply wrong.

Myth: Stuttering is caused by bad parenting or stress.
Reality: No one really knows what causes stuttering, although a genetic predisposition seems to be involved. Emotional stress often triggers stuttering in children who have a tendency to stutter, but many deal with extreme stress without ever stuttering, while others stutter in response to slight or routine stress. Neglectful or hurtful parenting is one source of extreme stress for a child, of course, as are well-meaning parents who put too much pressure on their children to excel or engage in too many activities. But many loving, sensible parents have children who stutter, so we certainly can't blame all stuttering on bad parenting.

Myth: It helps to tell a child to "slow down," "take a big breath before you start talking," or "think about what you want to say first."
Reality: This advice usually only makes a child more self-conscious, making the problem worse. More helpful responses include listening patiently, modeling slow and clear speech yourself, and making out what your child is saying as best you can.

Myth: Children will outgrow stuttering.
Reality: While roughly four out of five do outgrow stuttering, it doesn't always get better on its own. If the stuttering has been going on for more than six months or there are other signs that it is very stressful for your child, it's best to get help sooner rather than later.

Myth: Children can control their stuttering if they only would try.
Reality: The more children try to control all the muscles involved in speaking, the more laborious and difficult speaking becomes. This only makes stuttering worse.

Myth: It's best to ignore stuttering completely.
Reality: While it doesn't help to call a child's attention to his stuttering, it also doesn't make sense to pretend that it doesn't exist. Children know when they have a problem, and pretending it's not there just sends the message that you find the stuttering too uncomfortable to deal with. A helpful response is matter-of-fact and supportive, something along the lines of: "When you keep working hard to talk, I can see how much courage you have!"

Myth: Listening to a parent or sibling stutter can cause a young child to stutter.
Reality: This is absolutely not true. Stuttering isn't a matter of being exposed to stuttering; genetic and other factors are involved.