Edward Hoagland
Edward Hoagland in his essay “On Stuttering,” describes the difficulties he faced in his life because of a stuttering problem. He shared the different ways he was able to cope with this issue and some of the scariest moments he faced because of his stuttering. As I read this essay I could relate to Hoagland on a personal level because of the stuttering problem my youngest son has. Many of the examples Hoagland shared I have seen my son deal with.
Hoagland describes the fact that he has lived 63 years with a stutter, and he gives details about certain times in his life that he felt very alone (114). Hoagland also includes strategies that he found worked for him to beat his stutter every now and then. Hoagland also shares how he was able to control his stuttering when he was around certain people, because he would just listen to what they were saying (115). Hoagland shared that he would not comment unless it was worth commenting about. Hoagland also spoke about the three scariest moments he experienced as a stutterer. First was when his daughter was learning to talk, and she thought she was supposed to speak the same way he spoke, second was when he was shot at in the woods and had to speak loud and fast so he could be heard, and the third was with weddings where he might have to give a speech or say I do (115). Hoagland shared that other than those moments his stuttering ceased to be a serious issue around the time he lost his virginity (115). Hoagland ended his essay by sharing how his semiblindness completely overshadowed his stuttering difficulty, because the stuttering didn’t compare to the blindness until after surgery restored his sight (116).
As I read this essay I continued to reflect back to my youngest son and the stuttering difficulties he has. It was at the young age of 3 that my son was diagnosed with autism. I remember this as if it was yesterday. We took him to the doctor because all of sudden he quit eating the way he used to and he
Hoagland describes the fact that he has lived 63 years with a stutter, and he gives details about certain times in his life that he felt very alone (114). Hoagland also includes strategies that he found worked for him to beat his stutter every now and then. Hoagland also shares how he was able to control his stuttering when he was around certain people, because he would just listen to what they were saying (115). Hoagland shared that he would not comment unless it was worth commenting about. Hoagland also spoke about the three scariest moments he experienced as a stutterer. First was when his daughter was learning to talk, and she thought she was supposed to speak the same way he spoke, second was when he was shot at in the woods and had to speak loud and fast so he could be heard, and the third was with weddings where he might have to give a speech or say I do (115). Hoagland shared that other than those moments his stuttering ceased to be a serious issue around the time he lost his virginity (115). Hoagland ended his essay by sharing how his semiblindness completely overshadowed his stuttering difficulty, because the stuttering didn’t compare to the blindness until after surgery restored his sight (116).
As I read this essay I continued to reflect back to my youngest son and the stuttering difficulties he has. It was at the young age of 3 that my son was diagnosed with autism. I remember this as if it was yesterday. We took him to the doctor because all of sudden he quit eating the way he used to and he