Speech therapy comes to the movies! Soon-to-be-released British film ‘The King’s Speech’ focuses on George VI – also known as ‘Bertie’ – and his battle to overcome a severe stammer.
An unlikely chain of events leads to Bertie becoming King, and with this the need to perform frequent public speeches. Bertie and the rest of the Royal Family feel that his stammer will prevent him from doing so, and enlist the services of a speech therapist. The film centres on the relationship between Bertie and his speech therapist – an Australian called Lionel Logue.
In this YouTube video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYYOFBT1SZE), Colin Firth – who plays Bertie – discusses his role in the film. He mentions that he has played characters with stammers before, but notes that all are individual experiences and feel very different from one another.
This is an interesting and accurate observation from Firth. Stammers (or stutters, as they are known in the USA) vary from person to person. They can begin at different periods in people’s lives, vary in severity and impact enormously upon the individual’s emotional wellbeing if left untreated. For more information about stammering, see here:https://integratedtreatmentservices.co.uk/news/item/0/72/stammering-and-speech-therapy/?a=nh
One website (http://kings-speech.movie-trailer.com/) has a brief snippet of video on display that shows Bertie and Lionel in action. Although it is only a short clip, it captures the intensity of Lionel’s therapy programme and the lengths that Bertie is prepared to go to in order to overcome his stammer. This includes rolling around on the floor, singing nursery rhymes and shouting out speech sounds while jumping around. Not exactly the typical behaviour we might expect from a member of the Royal Family!
Early reviews of the film indicate that it is this down-to-earth attitude of Logue’s that helps Bertie the most – his disregard of the era’s social values and insistence that the therapy is delivered on his own terms allows him to be completely honest with Bertie about how best to succeed. Although most speech therapists today would agree that pointing out the client’s “flabby stomach” is perhaps not the best strategy for therapy…
The film has a very high profile cast – Colin Firth, Helena Bonham-Carter and Geoffrey Rush are household names. Their acting abilities are undeniable and lend an enormous amount of credibility to the film. As for the subject matter – stammering – it is hoped that the film will increase awareness and encourage stammerers to seek professional support from qualified speech and language therapists.
I.T.S. has several specialist SLTs who can help if you think your child, a relative or friend has a stammer – or if you yourself would like some support with your speech. Feel free to contact I.T.S for an informal chat: https://integratedtreatmentservices.co.uk/contact-us/
Sarah Bennington – September 2010
Written on behalf of Integrated Treatment Services. ITS is a private Speech and Language Therapy service based in Leicestershire and the East Midlands. It specialises in providing highly-skilled Speech and Language Therapists, but also associates with other therapeutic professionals, including Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists, Psychologists and Arts Therapists.
