Stuttering Awareness

By Nurse Diane

In 2011 there was a movie that not only won four Academy Awards, One for Best Movie, Best Director, Best Male Actor and Original Screen Play, but also won another 76 awards and was nominated for 99.  This movie was The King's Speech.  It was the story how the King of England, King George VI had a speech impediment and how he worked with a therapist to correct his problem to become a more effective ruler.

King George was not the first ruler to have had a speech impediment; in fact this is a problem that runs in families.   Other Rulers include King Charles I, King James II, and even the current Prince of Monaco, Prince Albert II.

Stuttering is a communication disorder in which the flow of speech is broken by repetitions (li-li-like this), prolongations (lllllike this), or abnormal stoppages (no sound) of sounds and syllables. There may also be unusual facial and body movements associated with the effort to speak. Stuttering is also referred to as stammering.

There are four factors most likely to contribute to the development of stuttering: genetics (approximately 60% of those who stutter have a family member who does also); child development (children with other speech and language problems or developmental delays are more likely to stutter); neurophysiology (recent neurological research has shown that people who stutter process speech and language slightly differently than those who do not stutter); and family dynamics (high expectations and fast-paced lifestyles can contribute to stuttering). Stuttering may occur when a combination of factors comes together and may have different causes in different people. It is probable that what causes stuttering differs from what makes it continue or get worse.  A friend of mine fell from a chair with a spoon in his mouth at a young age.  This accident cause a large cut on his tongue, and that resulted a period of stuttering for him.  However, with the help of his family and sisters, he was able to overcome this problem.

There are no instant miracle cures for stuttering. Therapy, electronic devices, and even drugs are not an overnight process. However, a specialist in stuttering can help children but also teenagers, young adults and even older adults make significant progress toward fluency.

Approximately three million Americans stutter, some of the more recognized include:  James Earl Jones, Marylin Monroe, Bruce Willis, Mel Tillis, Tiger Woods, Vice President Joe Biden, Winston Churchill, Elvis Presley, Charles Dawin and Sir Isaac Newton to name a few.

This is National Stuttering Awareness Week.  To learn how you can help visit this site: http://www.stutteringhelp.org/Default.aspx?tabid=4

(All images from Google) 

Celebrating National DNA Day

By Nurse Diane

Recently a friend of mine introduced me to a detective show on television.  This was not an ordinary detective show; it is a show about real cases, and real people who have committed a crime, usually a murder.  The criminals left behind one small piece of themselves behind, and with that minute piece of evidence, crimes were solved using DNA testing.

What is DNA?  Well the long word of it is Deoxyribonucleic acid.  It is a system of codes that makes up who we are.  Just like a snowflake, there is an individual code for each person.  Some people have similar codes, such as close relatives, your siblings, parents, but they are not exactly the same.

DNA Day commemorates the day in 1953 when James Watson, Francis Crick, Maurice Wilkins, Rosalind Franklin and colleagues published papers in the journal Nature on the structure of DNA.  In fact, I was watching a rerun of Monk just yesterday, and they had an episode about DNA where this girl was doing a report about it and the captain explained about the uses in solving crimes.  DNA is only useful if there is something to compare it to.  It can offer some clues such as eye and hair color, but to catch a criminal, there must be some records on file to compare.

Currently, a DNA test is performed on criminals once they have been arrested, so if their DNA is found at another crime scene, it will be quickly identified.

According to geonome.gov, On April 19, 2013, the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) will partner with the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History to celebrate National DNA Day, a day that commemorates the discovery of the double helix in 1953 and the completion of the Human Genome Project in 2003.

The National DNA Day/Smithsonian celebration will be a unique day when students and teachers can learn more about genetics and genomics. The DNA Day celebration will include a morning of engaging scientific presentations and panel discussions with some of the nation's leading historians, scientists, geneticists and physicians that will emphasize the wide breadth of careers within genomics and genetics.

For more information on DNA Day, visit this site: http://www.genome.gov/10506367

(All images from Google)