The Film 'The King's Speech' and a Professional Who Works with Adult Stutterers

In honor of the Academy Awards and the film with 12 nominations, "The King's Speech," is strongly favored to win Best Picture. It is the only film with the highest amount of nominations. To get a professional opinion if the film was accurate with its portrayal of adult stutterers, such as King George VI, often referred to as Bertie, I conducted an interview with an extraordinary speech pathologist from New York City who is also licensed to practice in six states. Dr. Martin F. Schwartz, Ph.D has seen the film twice.

He has worked with over 15,000 adult stutterers in a career spanning 40 years. Dr. Schwartz has trained more speech therapists to treat stutterers than anyone else. Since 1974 he has been the executive director of the National Center for Stuttering. For 28 years he is the research professor of Speech Pathology at NYU Medical School. Dr. Schwartz has written four books on stuttering that's been translated into seven languages and had three books written about him. Also, he has appeared on Oprah and three times on the Today show. However, Dr. Martin Schwartz's most important accomplishment is being married to the most wonderful woman in the world for 51 years.

What is your professional opinion of "The King's Speech" after watching the movie?

The portrayal of a stutterer was quite accurate. The film also conveyed a lot of information about people who stutter, for example, stutterers don't stutter when they talk to themselves out loud or when they sing.

Are the treatments in the movie still used today?

The treatments shown in the movie are generally not used today.

Do you feel the film was portrayed accurately and professionally regarding this speech disorder?

What was amazing about the film was how accurately stuttering was portrayed. In so far as the film was concerned, I consider it very professionally made.

Was there anything about it that was inaccurate?

One gets the impression of a relatively short period of time between their first meeting and the speech to Great Britain announcing the eve of war. Actually, they had known each other for 10 years between the two events. By the way, they hit it off immediately; it wasn't a situation where a royal slowly warmed to a commoner. Also, the Kings speeches over the BBC were all recorded, not live. And someone was there to edit out all stutters - which there were.

How did the actor Colin Firth portray an adult who stutters?

His portrayal was absolutely brilliant. His stuttering performance was spot on. He must have been coached by someone quite knowledgeable. His stresses were also so very typical of the way people who stutter feel. I can't imagine a better performance.

Do you feel that "The King's Speech" deserves an Oscar for its depiction?

Without a jot of reservation. You may be interested in a pre-publication piece of work which points to a simple cure for perhaps one third of all adults who stutter. Read about it at: The National Center for Stuttering . I view this study as very newsworthy.

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