Words Fail Us

by Jonty Claypole

In an age of polished TED talks and overconfident political oratory, success seems to depend upon charismatic public speaking. But what if hyper-fluency is not only unachievable but undesirable?

Jonty Claypole spent fifteen years of his life in and out of extreme speech therapy. From sessions with child psychologists to lengthy stuttering boot camps and exposure therapies, he tried everything until finally being told the words he'd always feared: 'We can't cure your stutter.' Those words started him on a journey towards not only making peace with his stammer but learning to use it to his advantage.

Here, Jonty argues that our obsession with fluency could be hindering, rather than helping, our creativity, authenticity and persuasiveness. Exploring other speech conditions, such as aphasia and Tourette's, and telling the stories of the 'creatively disfluent' - from Lewis Carroll to Kendrick Lamar - Jonty explains why it's time for us to stop making sense, get tongue tied and embrace the life-changing power of inarticulacy.

Genres: Nonfiction, Science

352 pages, Hardcover

Published January 14, 2021

Reviews

[E Horak · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best and most progressive books about stuttering that I’ve come across.

Jonty Claypole did a lot of research for this book. Unlike some disabilities, it can be really hard to find historical information. It was hidden or left out of history all together, despite people at the time being aware of the stutter. Still, he pulls together from the pictures we do have to critically analyze the way stuttering been approached.

The history of stuttering is always told through the history of “cures” and “treatments”. I don’t think I’ve ever seen work that didn’t give us our stuttering history that way. While Claypole tells those parts as well, he gives a lot more room a more full story of stuttering. And when it does come to treatments, he does one thing we rarely ever see people do: he asks “Why”? Why do we need a cure so badly? Why is it worth ruining our lives, removing parts of our brains, turning our voice flat… all to avoid dysfluent speech?

Claypole takes a deep dive into grappling with why stuttering is so stigmatized. He also connects stuttering to other disability movements, especially those with other speech conditions. He has a call to action for those who stutter: find our connections with other groups of people. 1% (the population estimate of how many stutter) might not be enough to throw our weight around and make people listen. But you start adding in other speech differences? Those with accents? Those who develop other health conditions or disabilities - and while their speech is affected, it’s rarely the focus of health providers as core issues of their condition.

The topics Claypole addresses have been mentioned occasionally (albeit not often) in academia, and he brings a very thoroughly researched perspective into a published book that is much easier to read.

I originally bought the ebook but decided I needed a hard copy after reading it.

As a stuttering advocate myself, there are some language tweaks I’d suggest. But on a whole, this is the most inclusive and critical fight for people who stutter that I’ve seen a person who stutters so. (We are often our own worse enemy.)

Kudos, Mr. Claypole. I’ve recommended this book to several people and will continue to do so. I hope this books lands in more hands of people who are ready to question why we think being dysfluent is the worst thing someone can be.

[María · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 stars out of 5
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I personally don’t like books that concentrate experiences as I don’t personally care or “resonate truly” with them, therefore, I find myself skimming through them 99.9% of the time. Also, I would’ve liked it more if it was heavily concentrated on stuttering/stammering, but it also talks about other things. But I did learn a lot tho :-) !!

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book about speech problems such as stuttering, Tourette's and more. Claypole takes us back in time to see how these difficulties have been dealt with by society in earlier times, and how many false notions about how to deal with them have arisen. In the present things have improved, and there are a number of people with speech difficulties who either overcome them or live more comfortably with them - some even incorporate them into their public personas.
Claypole's research ranges far and wide. My only quibble about the book is that a number of things get repeated in one way or another as though he's concerned we'll forget what he's said. But that apart it was eye-opening in many ways.

[Samantha]

Did not finish book. Stopped at 32%.
Whilst the topic is an interesting and important one, the execution is not particularly engaging.

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting ideas and concepts, but quite dry in a lot of places.

[Wil Kyle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book! The author is a bit repetitive in parts but you don’t notice it too bad as their writing is quite easy to read. Would be 3.5 if they did half stars.