Candy Hunt
(Im)perfect to be a king!
Anuradha Malalasekara
James Middleton delivered an unexpected stand-out moment in his
sister's WestminsterAbbey wedding. Not only because it was the wedding
of the millennium, but this famous brother suffers from a speech
disability.
Middleton, 23, suffers from dyslexia and chose to memorize his
two-minute-40-second- long Bible quote, Romans 12 extract rather than
read it from the Bible and risk jumbling the words. People with
dyslexia, which literally means "trouble with words", have difficulties
with reading, language and words. When Kate Middleton married Prince
William, more than two billion people watched their wedding. Dyslexics,
not less than several millions around the world also triumphed to hear
the only speech delivered in that famous event.
|
A scene
from King’s Speech |
I wonder how many famous 'differently able' people were made by the
Great Britain. I was happy for King George VI (Queen Elizabeth's father)
who was able to overcome his severe stuttering condition at the right
time for the throne. This story is brilliantly depicted in 'King's
Speech' which earned several awards for its creators and the cast.
Much has been made of the film's use of harsh language. In context,
it is handled appropriately - Lionel (the speech therapist) observes
that Prince Albert (before he became the king of England) does not
stutter when he swears, and uses this insight to help advance his
therapy.
In this case swearing has been used as a mode of therapy and, I would
rather say as a remedy. I have seen people who stop shuttering when they
sing or speak aloud. Anyway 'King's Speech' was rated R (restricted)
which means that it could only be seen by an 18+ audience.
In this regard, Colin Firth, who played the role of Prince Albert
broke the ice claiming, "These are tools, these forbidden words have
become momentary tools to get a guy to break out of extreme
repression...It doesn't teach your kids to sprinkle your language with
these words or direct them against people."
Speech-related disabilities are one of the more obvious disabilities,
especially as they relate to speech-based communication - something
commonly used in both work and social life. At one extreme are people
who cannot speak at all, and must communicate by sign language or by
talking computer. Yet even where the disability does not significantly
impair the ability to communicate in an understandable way, people with
speech disabilities are often subject to oppression and ridicule in
public, and discrimination in employment. The disability may be an "act
of God", but the oppression is definitely based in so called 'physically
perfect' society.
I have serious issues on how media and other channels of
entertainment depict a differently able person. Back in a decade or so,
we were all glued our eyes on a Sinhala comedy series which had a
seriously shuttering man. We all laughed out of our heads to a person's
disability without a single thought of many people who suffer from the
exact difficulty. It is pathetic to realize that we have become dumb
enough to laugh merely on a disability of a person, rather than a moral
failure.
None of the masterpieces that have been offered to the world by
Leonardo Da Vinci shows up an impairment which has been long suffered by
the artist. The contribution of Bill Gates, Winston Churchill, Albert
Einstein and Pablo Picasso was flawless to the mankind. All the names
mentioned about have suffered from some form of a speech disability and
still there are a lot among us who are intellectually gifted yet
differently able.
The positive outcomes entirely rely on right form of therapy, love
and care. In the mean time, success stories such as 'King's Speech' will
make a huge difference.
|