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By LAUREN NEWKIRK MAYNARD

Published: February 10, 2011

Adrian McAdory is a person who stutters, and he’s not shy about saying that out loud. But he clearly remembers stuttering in front of his parents for the first time—after hiding it for 21 years.

“They never knew until I was in college, about to graduate, and then it was time to do job interviews and I knew I was in trouble,” recalls McAdory, a 2008 UB graduate and a financial advisor for New England Financial in Williamsville. Telling his family and friends, he adds, was one of the hardest things he’s ever had to do, even though his own father stutters and “everyone was very supportive.”

McAdory is co-leader of Western New York’s only chapter of the National Stuttering Association (NSA), a support group that meets twice a month on the North Campus. Although not formally affiliated with UB, it was founded in 1990 by Gary Rentschler, former director of the UB Speech and Hearing Clinic, and one of his patients, chapter co-leader Bonnie Weiss, a UB alumna and former administrative assistant for the Department of Classics.

Just as the NSA was established by and for those who stutter, Weiss formed the local chapter in order to “build a community where people who stutter would have a place to share their thoughts, feelings and experiences about their stuttering.”

When the group gathered in January, Weiss, McAdory and other members, as well as several speech pathology students from area schools, discussed “The King’s Speech,” a recent Hollywood film about stuttering that has captured several Oscar nominations, including one for Best Actor for Colin Firth’s portrayal of King George VI of England, who tried to hide his impediment from the world.

Group member Heddy Sgzko said she was moved to tears watching the film: “It was wonderful.” McAdory saw it twice. Weiss says she hopes the attention it garners, as well as its realistic view of the condition, will give stuttering the respect and tolerance it deserves.

According to the NSA, stuttering is a communication disorder that affects about 1 percent of the population. It involves disruptions, or “disfluencies,” in a person’s speech, and refers to either the specific disfluencies people suffer, or to the overall difficulty they experience when trying to communicate. Stuttering can range from mild to severe, and many people who stutter (known as PWSs) feel a physical tension in their speech muscles, as well as embarrassment, anxiety and fear about speaking. While the precise cause of stuttering is unknown, research into the condition continues and the NSA stresses that disfluency is not a “nervous” disorder caused by emotional problems.

Some PWSs, like McAdory and King George, suppress their speech-fluency issues well enough that others might not even know they have them, which is called being “covert.” But unlike the movie’s portrayal of George overcoming his severe stutter, getting help doesn’t necessarily mean a cure, McAdory stresses. “You learn how to better cope with it in your life, and the key to doing that is to be upfront and positive about it. That’s what this group offers—a safe place where you can stutter out loud and be proud of who you are.”

McAdory battled feelings of loneliness, shame and isolation for years as a covert stutterer, learning ways to avoid problem words rather than reveal his stutter. Eventually, he says, the condition became too much to handle emotionally, so he began speech therapy. He earned an MBA from Niagara University last year after joining the support group and also participates in the UB chapter of Toastmasters International, a public-speaking organization. He still stutters, but says he’s no longer so afraid of it. “My employer knows I stutter, but they trust me because I’m good at what I do,” he says proudly. “You have to do what you fear, to get rid of it. I still get nervous when I have to make a cold call.”

Weiss, who retired in 2004 after serving UB for 40 years, had similar experiences, although she was never covert. She persevered as a mild stutterer and built a career, she says, because she loved helping students and faculty in the classics department. “I had to make lots of phone calls every day!” she says, her soft voice full of laughter as it catches on the words. Now she is a sought-after speaker at NSA annual conferences, has served on its board of directors and chaired the NSA convention in Buffalo in 1994.

The Buffalo NSA support group chapter meets every first and third Wednesday of the month from 7-9 p.m. in 280 Park Hall. Everyone is welcome to stop by. For more information, click here or contact Weiss at 838-3999 or blweiss1@verizon.net, and McAdory at 510-3849 or casanova7164@yahoo.com.