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Show Device will help stutterers' speech, personality problems "Personality problems are a consequence of stuttering, not the other way around," said Dr. Brady. The stutterer becomes an-tibus an-tibus at large formal occasions which causes stuttering. This new method builds up the confidence of the stutterer. Dr. Brady rejects the old therapy the-rapy of no eye contact and word substitutes. He states that these tend to undermine confidence. A small instrument that looks like a hearing aid is helping stutterers stut-terers improve their speech and gain the self-confidence needed to be at ease in a speaking situation, according to Dr. John Paul Brady, professor of psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Brady told a group of University Uni-versity students at a recent department depart-ment of Psychiatry seminar that the stutterer's aid is a miniaturized minia-turized metronome. This device ticks off regular beats into the wearer's ear, helping him to pace his speech and to eliminate hesitations hesi-tations or prolongations in words or sounds. Carries metronome "The metronome used by piano players has been used for 100 years in helping stutterers to slow down and regulate their speech," said Dr. Brady. "But now a stutterer stut-terer can carry his own met-s met-s ronome constantly and inconspicuously." incon-spicuously." The device is won like a hearing aid and is inaudible to anyone but the wearer. Dr. Brady reported that in about 80 percent of cases, the metronome had been discarded dis-carded after several weeks when the wearer's speech was matched to normal tones, inflection and rhythm. |