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seems to be the front runner聽to win the Academy Award for Best Picture聽tonight. [Update: It did, of course, win the Oscar for Best Picture.] The movie聽has come in for some criticism for its depiction of the political machinations surrounding聽the and聽Britain鈥檚聽appeasement of Hitler.聽The British-born writer Christopher Hitchens, unsparing聽and deliciously eloquent as always, puts the politics of聽聽than the聽movie does.聽聽聽聽聽聽

叠耻迟听The King鈥檚 Speech has聽won almost universal praise聽for its聽portrayal of聽the reluctant monarch鈥檚 stuttering, a speech pattern that includes involuntary repetition of sounds and syllables and 鈥渟peech blocks鈥� that cause prolonged pauses. Many young聽 children who stutter grow out of the problem, but perhaps as many 1 in every 100 adults are affected by the condition,聽80% of whom are men. Stuttering clusters in families, so researchers have been searching for聽inherited genes that might cause the condition.聽Last year,聽in The New England Journal of Medicine,聽NIH researchers reported with聽results showing an association between聽three mutated genes and聽stuttering,听补lthough聽those mutations are probably responsible for a very small minority of cases.聽

It鈥檚 been said that聽The King鈥檚 Speech will do聽for stuttering what did for autism: plant聽a sympathetic view of聽a disability in the public consciousness. One聽danger of聽such聽a quick infusion聽of聽awareness, however,聽is that聽it can harden聽into a聽fixed, if largely favorable,聽stereotype.聽We are finding out鈥攐r are being reminded鈥攁bout all the 聽(many of them writers).聽First-person accounts are popping up all over the place because of the film.聽The聽best I鈥檝e come across is聽by聽, who聽describes vividly what it was like to聽listen to the聽radio broadcasts of the real King George VI, wondering if聽he would聽make it to the end 鈥渓ike a drunken waiter crossing a polished floor bearing a tray laden with wine glasses.鈥澛� French writes about the special anxiety in his family:聽

In my household, however, there was an additional source of unease鈥攁 special elephant in the corner of the room or, more accurately, a little Dumbo at the festive table, namely myself. I can recall no social experience prior to the king at Christmas 1937 and thus I can鈥檛 remember a time when I too didn鈥檛 stammer. Increasingly as the years passed, I became conscious of my family and our guests at that special annual occasion pretending not to look in my direction and clearly wondering exactly how they should react in my discomfiting presence.

In the movie, the Australian speech therapist Lionel Logue, played by Geoffrey Rush, has his聽royal client, played by ,聽sing, swear (the swearing is the reason for the film鈥檚 R rating), and perform various strange vocal exercises.聽Despite their quarrels and class differences, the聽strong bond between the two men (at one level, the聽movie is聽a Masterpiece Theater鈥搒tyle bromance)聽is聽also聽presented as聽being crucial聽 to the king鈥檚 heroic, and eventually successful, efforts to control聽聽his 蝉迟耻迟迟别谤.听听

After聽I saw the movie, and聽as a part of the runup to 聽I聽began to聽do a little research into stuttering. And聽after making some inquiries, last week I ended up emailing and then talking to聽 Johnson is聽provost and vice president for academic affairs and a professor of communication science and disorders at the 聽in Boston, an organization that trains speech therapists as well as聽nurses and other health professionals.聽Diagnosis and treatment of聽stuttering has been a focus of Johnson鈥檚聽clinical career.聽

Certainly look聽beyond this blog post聽if you鈥檙e seeking聽expertise. 叠耻迟听I鈥檒l pass along a聽few聽of the things I learned聽from聽my conversation with聽Johnson,聽,听补 , an Australian speech-language therapist who is an expert on Logue,听补nd聽a 聽few other scattered聽sources.聽聽

• One semantic issue can be put to rest聽right off the bat:聽Johnson told me that stuttering and stammering are interchangeable. The only difference is that the聽British prefer聽stammer over 蝉迟耻迟迟别谤.听听
• Johnson and others familiar with stuttering are quick to point out the contrast聽between The King鈥檚 Speech and other聽depictions of stuttering.聽Here鈥檚 a portion of Johnson鈥檚 blog post:

This movie is so unique in its accurate聽representation of the stuttering experience.聽I have, over the years collected episodes of television shows, cartoons (Porky Pig?), popular movies (), and some novels that have included persons who stutter as characters.聽People who stutter are most often portrayed in these media聽as cognitively challenged,聽mentally unhealthy, shy, dangerous, or as the object of ridicule.聽 How difficult a road this has been for people who stutter.

• Lionel Logue, the speech therapist played by Rush,聽was trained as聽an聽, a now-extinct聽profession聽devoted to proper vocalization and聽public speaking. (Interesting fact from a quickie Google search: Alexander Graham Bell鈥檚 father was a prominent elocutionist.)聽In聽his native Australia, and his recitals were well attended.聽Like Logue, many early speech therapists and speech 鈥渃orrectionists鈥� had been聽elocutionists, and understandably,聽they applied聽elocutionist techniques to speech therapy.聽So, for example, 聽in the movie,聽Logue has his star pupil聽repeat聽tongue twisters, a common exercise taught by elocutionists.聽
• Apparently, Logue never gave a full account of聽the techniques he used with the king.聽 Still, once you make allowances for the need to聽streamline聽messy history into a聽story (the screenplay for the movei also won an Oscar),聽most of what we see is probably a fairly good聽reflection of Logue鈥檚 techniques, according to Caroline Bowen.聽In her estimation, the two aspects that don鈥檛 ring true are the use of swearing聽to increase fluency (what a shame: it鈥檚 a hilarious scene) and His Royal Highness agreeing to let聽Logue call him聽by聽his聽nickname, Bertie.
• Logue is shown using聽singing a lot in the royal therapy sessions.聽Johnson says that contemporary speech therapy for stutterers wouldn鈥檛 typically include聽singing but that therapists do use techniques that tap into聽the and聽take into account the聽timing and rhythm of speech.
• In one of the movie鈥檚聽early scenes, Logue shows the then-Duke of York that he can speak without stuttering if he doesn鈥檛 hear his own聽voice as he speaks.聽Johnson told me that this scene bears some resemblance to 鈥溾�� techniques that have been part of聽mainstream stuttering therapy for decades.聽Modern electronics have made it possible for people who stutter to wear auditory feedback devices that look like hearing aids.聽They cost about $4,000 to $5,000, according to a recent article in The Washington Post. Johnson said that聽some models聽help people who stutter by聽not delaying when they hear their own voice but also聽by slightly altering the pitch.聽
• Johnson told me聽that聽聽stuttering therapy聽today聽falls聽into two broad categories: efforts聽aimed at modifying the behavior of speaking聽and those that聽focus on eliminating the fear of speaking.聽The King鈥檚 Speech is moving聽partly because聽Logue is portrayed as being such a master聽at easing fear:聽the mere commoner, and an Australian to boot, who calms the king.聽In the final scene of the movie, George VI,聽 facing the dreaded microphone, reads his聽speech more to聽Logue than to the聽radio audience.聽聽聽