7/31/2019 Autobiography of a Stutterer by Joseph S. Cooper Book Preview
1/26
JOSEPH S. COOPER
BlazeVOX [book
Buffalo, New Yo
7/31/2019 Autobiography of a Stutterer by Joseph S. Cooper Book Preview
2/26
Autobiography of a Stutterer by Joseph S. Cooper
Copyright 2007
Published by BlazeVOX [books]
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced withoutthe publishers written permission, except for brief quotations in reviews.
Printed in the United States of America
Book design by Geoffrey Gatza
First Edition
ISBN: 1-934289-29-9 ISBN 13: 978-1-934289-29-7Library of Congress Control Number: 2006938682
BlazeVOX [books]14 Tremaine AveKenmore, NY 14217
publisher of weird little books
BlazeVOX [ books ]
blazevox.org
2 4 6 8 0 9 7 5 3 1
7/31/2019 Autobiography of a Stutterer by Joseph S. Cooper Book Preview
3/26
7/31/2019 Autobiography of a Stutterer by Joseph S. Cooper Book Preview
4/26
7/31/2019 Autobiography of a Stutterer by Joseph S. Cooper Book Preview
5/26
Autobiography of a Stutterer is a culmination of the past fifteen
years of my life as a stutterer. The purpose of this text is to give readers the
opportunity to experience a speech impediment firsthand. By following
the legend and mimicking the symptoms of a fluency disorder, difficulties
in communication and comprehension will begin to surface. Although
non-stutterers reading this text will naturally elude the psychological fears
and inhibitions experienced by stutterers, they have the chance to discover
the mechanics of a fluency disorder and its frustrating interruptions. The
text is to be read aloud, preferably in front of others.
7/31/2019 Autobiography of a Stutterer by Joseph S. Cooper Book Preview
6/26
12
STUTTERERS LEGEND1
REPETITION of a sound, syllable, word or phrase is the most common
behavior exhibited by stutterers usually provoked by sound and word fears,
situational fears, anxiety, tension, and shame for the speakers lack of control.
It occurs commonly in both stutterers and non-stutterers; however, certainly
the severity of this repetition is more frequent in individuals with this fluency
disorder.
PROLONGATION is one of the least typical behaviors exhibited by stutterers,
occurring most regularly with the sounds ////, or any other fricative2
consonant or vowel. With stutterers, prolonging a sound may lead to an
increase in pitch and/or volume.
1 This Stutterers Legend was compiled with definitions and information from the site,http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuttering2
This manner of articulation is a consonant characterized by frictional passage of the expired breaththrough a narrowing at some point in the vocal tract. (Merriam-Websters Collegiate Dictionary,466)
7/31/2019 Autobiography of a Stutterer by Joseph S. Cooper Book Preview
7/26
1
BLOCKING usually occurs during pronunciation of the first letter or syllable
of a word, when the larynx closes, halting the flow of air. This often produce
extraneous portions of silence referred to as unfilled pausestypically
accompanied by personal idiosyncrasies such as finger tapping or head-
scratching to help liberate the speech block.
[ ] WORD SUBSTITUTION occurs where words difficult for a stutterer to
speak are replaced with less-suitable words that are easier to pronounce.
FILLED PAUSES are interjections in normally fluent speech such as um,
uh, er, among others that serve as placeholders during conversation in
order for a listener to know the speaker has not yet finished speaking.
7/31/2019 Autobiography of a Stutterer by Joseph S. Cooper Book Preview
8/26
7/31/2019 Autobiography of a Stutterer by Joseph S. Cooper Book Preview
9/26
1
LIP
Utterance is the incision of thought-
wounded sound. Engorged with digital
friction. Fluency is haphazard architecture.
Consequently his esophagus was in strands. A
series of encrypted messages colonized the
infrastructure. Conceive mouths origin.
Tongue is microbial. Slick spores. What
happens if tongue is wrap ped around the
circumference of memory? Verses of
surreptitious space slipped fervently into body-
house. Pronoun I is anonymous. Mouthed by
impulsion. His lungs were impaled. [In secret]
unless otherwise indicated is where error
patterns are fused into b ody parts.
Spontaneous recovery is a relatively simple
process of mouth packing and sound
deadening.
7/31/2019 Autobiography of a Stutterer by Joseph S. Cooper Book Preview
10/26
16
Inside his vocal chords is the confession
of hearing. Breach any procedural languages. I
am increasing my oracular territory byoccupying yours. We will probably
want to analyze other disconnection
patterns in a similar approach. In reference to
location pretend to be a different one. Vestiges
of prayer debunked throat music. Speak
through another orifice. Through walls voices
strip down to sound and assess resonance.
Victorious in linguistic artifice tongue
streams a bifurcated voltage. I am consciously
fearful of the telephone. Wet palms matted
lashes into a liminal surface. Conversation with
oneself uses offbeat time signatures until an
agreement is reached.
7/31/2019 Autobiography of a Stutterer by Joseph S. Cooper Book Preview
11/26
1
Forgive my equation. The
silences of space are sobbing to avoid
confrontation. He considered eradicating the
tongue. It had on occasion sprung from the
mouth like a baby b etween the legs of a
woman. Instructions dissolve stretched
salaciously over pre-language. An eleven-year-
old tongue hangs from a meat hook. Under the
microscope at the very moment a smile arrived
three sentences were cut down the center.
Tongue will cunningly assume the disguise
of an angel. It opened its mouth and tied me
down. Suck the language of your mass
discussion. Truth is represented by the
scattered syllables of tongue. On the contrary it
has built its own world for itself.
7/31/2019 Autobiography of a Stutterer by Joseph S. Cooper Book Preview
12/26
18
A telephone c all from a telemarketer
caused his tongue to fall cleanly out. The
architecture of the mouth seems to be
changing. Human kind finds him repulsive.
Smegma of gums lushly amused. I was having
trouble feeling you in the back of my throat.
From the forcible and foul the howl and gnaw.
He pronounced the word um parents in
a formidable shape. Glued by contact cement.
They built a fence around the yard when I was
eleven and told me it was to keep anything in
my imagination from getting out. My tongue
turned gangrene for you. He remains the
filament of disparate parts. The moment
between tonguing and talking is deleted. Recall
your purest interpreter.
7/31/2019 Autobiography of a Stutterer by Joseph S. Cooper Book Preview
13/26
1
The first performance was a c leaving
of lexical morphemes. Stained discourse
pressed into seconds of self-translation.
Resistance is the property of limiting the
passage of a merging fiction. We used to take
turns in grade school reading passages from our
[manuals]. They heard his voice and erased all
translation. Your tongue is a hybrid of bacterial
species. Memory is a loose
floorboard in the basement. Trespass on
necessary muscle. Such tongues are said to b e
flapping instead of howling. One phonological
resonance was a loose tooth harmonica.
Arguments demonstrated this ordinary
horizontal. You wont feel pain youll just
bleed.
7/31/2019 Autobiography of a Stutterer by Joseph S. Cooper Book Preview
14/26
20
I have a d ream where tongue is
strapped down inside my mouth and raped into
liquid. Few people possess the desire to talk
unfamiliarly. Breast flesh closed into
subsequent invisibility. Reside in respiration as
a kind of thief. Teeth clenched together engine
the head. Therefore your former answer was
idle. Seamed in semi-darkness. T ongue
suffered multiple casualties. Whether such
unforced discourse really makes a difference
has yet to be determined. A machine-stutterer
is pronounced incommunicable. The
gaping mouth can be construed as sentimental.
You are the most beautiful pitch. No
sp eaking of this broken thing to others.
7/31/2019 Autobiography of a Stutterer by Joseph S. Cooper Book Preview
15/26
2
Is there any strictly material damage? A
melodious extended warbling son. This
might be a slip in the structural design. I want
absolutely. Utter an original [flaw]. Mother
was more familiar through gestures. I bite my
tongue every time I eat. His tongue was
ambushed by silence. The first time I tongued a
girl my jaw was stiff for three days and my
tongue ached. Simulated discourse
conceptualizes human thought. Instead of
fingers on the b athroom door mouths against
linen provide optimum fit allowance. In speech
therapy we were awarded prizes like animals in
training. We grow intimate with monsters.
Stick your tongue in every hole and
ind ent
ation.
7/31/2019 Autobiography of a Stutterer by Joseph S. Cooper Book Preview
16/26
22
A tongue is tightened or released by
torquing the head. Simple languages are
trained to the arbitrary real. He imaginedp ressing his tongue against the grill like
uh a sausage. What he hears is the
peripheral velocity of popular memory. He was
completely naked in the voice box. His
esophagus mated with a preformed
eternal thread. It was cut unspoiled like the
breath of a violet. From where the public is
sitting it is possible to b elieve that debates do
not take place. Full in language then
disapp earing all accountable were
questioned tracked with lip-gloss and put into
an iron cage susp ended in the air in the center
square by a single-syllable. You are very easywith words.
7/31/2019 Autobiography of a Stutterer by Joseph S. Cooper Book Preview
17/26
2
I am unavailable to deliberate
possibility. Tongue is cut where I went. It is
necessary to be among patterns. Ab ducted
and forced to shed its human mask. Assuming
inadaptable surgical pathways um
accusation is the footprint of the
deliberately numb. Tongue will completely
untie with a single p ull. I used to slice worms
in half with Popsicle sticks and watch them
wriggle in mistranslation. Replace
everything in the room with a guarded prop.
His gritted teeth hurled little sounds toward
the unexposed. My voice on the record skips.
A noun is constructed from bile. Just
remember to finish vigilantly. My machine
happens under its own volition.
7/31/2019 Autobiography of a Stutterer by Joseph S. Cooper Book Preview
18/26
24
I tried spelling my name in worm guts
before the Popsicle stick broke in half.
Sp eech was a series of obvious lies. There is
no tongue overturned in your sonata.
Censorship is an ulterior motive of therapeutic
language. A splice decreases tongue
strength by fifteen percent. Be someone
peculiar for your living geometry. I never
prayed for fluency only for the loss of tongue.
Everything entering and leaving the mouth is
processed. Secure loose end with
wrapping of tape. Take a deep breath. Breathe.
Try to relax. Try to. Relax. Let. Let me. Let
me fin. Let. Let me. Let
mefinish. Let finish. Let me. Take a.
Take a deep breathtake a deep breath.
7/31/2019 Autobiography of a Stutterer by Joseph S. Cooper Book Preview
19/26
2
Breathe. Let me. Finish to relax try.
Try to deep me. Try to finish me
deep. Breath a take relax. To me-ish. To take
me. Breathe to try. Let me let. Let breathe
deep me. Take a deep breath. B reathe. The
ear and tongue conspire against utterance in a
measure of cruelty. You are one of these
[pieces]. Words overlook the trim flesh of the
public. If children keep a record of discourse in
its purist form we can degenerate it into a
meaningless routine. Simulated discourse is
not complicated but there are techniques that
improve its success. My tongue made a large
scar in the cent er of your thoughts. You are
saliva electric.
7/31/2019 Autobiography of a Stutterer by Joseph S. Cooper Book Preview
20/26
7/31/2019 Autobiography of a Stutterer by Joseph S. Cooper Book Preview
21/26
2
HARD PALATE
When saliva transforms to rectal
perspiration inflexible rust is exposed in mouth
rubble. The physical act of speech the pleasure
in its form the app reciation of its
compactness is valuable even if the fluent
content of these feelings seems low. Stutter
something sweet. B reathe. Rip strips
along the side and cut into angles. His mouth
was devoured by voices. A piece of human
vocal apparatus is left fluttering between
two diseased tongues. Through c ollege I
rarely asked out a girl if her name began with ahard consonant sound or a vowel. Because
we all co-articulate according to the same rules
discourse becomes a contrived situation with an
enormous number of degrees of freedom.
7/31/2019 Autobiography of a Stutterer by Joseph S. Cooper Book Preview
22/26
28
Affirm the subject by waiting patiently
for a conclusion. This provides good
ab rasion and fatigue resistance. I
mispronounced Indiana as Ind ia. The
adjustments sometimes result in compromise.
He has not abandoned vowel-like productions.
Turned comp letely inside out adults believe
they hear stresses and meaningful intonation
patterns. I never stutter when I sing. Animate
and affirm your material breathing
whether for composition or translation.
Visitors transcribed us. Intention is not
exclusive to meaning. You have c onfessed to
me the narrators metallic body. The
interconnected threads are the catalyst to this
linguistic framework.
7/31/2019 Autobiography of a Stutterer by Joseph S. Cooper Book Preview
23/26
2
The mouth soiled by neglect is
compelled to speak truth under pain of d eath.
Deemed a cry for help all inhabitants of an
open call system have been sealed with wax. A
scene is p erformed under the memory of an
inquisitive machine. Putty tongue is
unwelcomingly pinkish. The broad diaphanous
hole is being tested for noise-making
equipment. He has in his possession a deeper
breath. Repeat [research] with three marbles,
four marbles, etc. The length of a passage does
not determine how many other passages of
the same length exist. He was a pedestrian in
the gray matter of voiceless text ure. Many
people develop some kind of system for dealing
with this difficulty. They became intimate with
each other after swapping p atches of tongue.
7/31/2019 Autobiography of a Stutterer by Joseph S. Cooper Book Preview
24/26
30
The whole picture at a glance detects
any omission. This is a method of control over
an undefeatable opponent. C orked
orifice. Tongue gagged when it was the
center of attention. Please bring b ack the
microphone. Our digital interface is mutating.
Knowing tongue bites at appearance was a
conductor of discourse. The sentimental
anguish of t ongue assuaged the upper crust of
words. I timed my bathroom breaks for
when it was my turn to read. A meaning-
making utterance in the telephone is heard
as heavy breathing. My mouth [went to wrack
and ruin] when speaking to her. Saying hello is
like trying to scream for help in a dream with
your lips folded backward over the sc alpsealed together with cartilage.
7/31/2019 Autobiography of a Stutterer by Joseph S. Cooper Book Preview
25/26
3
B reathing with me to imitate the
words incongruity bests a companion of
mimicry. Breathe the growled air when
consonants back away t oward the throat. A
dead mouth will articulate a flawless sound
effect. Unctuously I pleaded for a different
disability. Take away my hearing. Ill speak in
sign. When language is a carcass sinking in the
mud it does not matter how hard you
pull. B ring tongue onto the cold concrete
floor nights in the basement. B ring tongue to
globs of spittle trembling in the corners of
chapped lips. B ring tongue a negative
advance to the restrictions of habit. I have
kept a journal of suicide letters for my stutter.
7/31/2019 Autobiography of a Stutterer by Joseph S. Cooper Book Preview
26/26
32
Tie a string to tongue and doorknob
and close firmly. His impediment
immediately preceded the conjunction.
Tongue echoed a liturgy of domesticated swine.
The mouth held by an executioner was p ulled
generously by the tongue until torn austerely
from the platform of loose jowls.
C onsciousness here operates as if it were a
machine being turned on and off. I speak so
quickly that the auditorium um falls to
puzzle. I was in a classroom doing a
presentation when tongue became acrobatic.
Corralled in speech therapy class you
and I were intimately lassoed together in a
mock dialogue. Misconstrued shy speech
becomes a spluttering mosaic.