Honestly, do whatever you are most comfortable with. Some judges might give you a boost if you disclose- some will even do so subconciously regardless of whether or not you disclose. Others won't. If you're a decent speaker who is still able to effectively communicate (and it sounds like you are), I think most judges and opponents will roll with it no matter what.
When I debated I learned that I had to disclose that I was hearing impaired to get the accommodations I needed. I don’t think it will be pity points, but rather a better way for everyone to understand who you are as a person and how the debate should be handled given the situation. Just my thoughts tho🤙🏾
"full disclosure I have a stutter, please award speaker points based on sentence structure and on the content of the words as if it were being read from a word document"
It's fine (possibly even a good idea, depending on your circuit norms) to say something at the outset like "I have a stutter, please forgive me if I stumble a bit and let me know if I'm unclear." But do not try to dictate how the judge evaluates speaker points or ask them to judge you on something entirely different than your speaking (reading from a script).
If you want the judge to do that, then you'll need to request a disability accommodation from the tournament in advance. If the tournament agrees, then it will give your judges that instruction.
Unfortunately though, most judges do not know anything about stuttering and WILL penalize you for it, even if they don't say anything on the ballot. (Source: have received countless shitty comments from uneducated judges on the local and national level even after submitting an ADA request form)
Also, the OP shouldn't have to say anything resembling an apology for their speech impediment.
> Unfortunately though, most judges do not know anything about stuttering and WILL penalize you for it, even if they don't say anything on the ballot. (Source: have received countless shitty comments from uneducated judges on the local and national level even after submitting an ADA request form)
1. If the judge isn't going to heed instructions given by tab about how to handle a disability, they are certainly not going to accept instructions from the debater requesting accommodation directly. So the above advice is still a bad idea -- at best it will be ignored, at worst it will backfire and result in even lower scores.
2. Was your ADA accommodation request granted? What was the instruction that the tournaments agreed to give judges? Were those instructions indeed given? (If not, then you can't blame the judge for not giving an accommodation they didn't know to give, but also you may have grounds to sue those tournaments for ADA violation.) Since disabilities are very fact-specific and accommodations are generally tailored to the exact needs of the person and what's reasonable in light of the activity and venue, one person's experience is difficult to compare to any other person's, even if they have the same general disability (stutter) and also do debate.
3. There's a pretty big difference between telling a judge to try to ignore a speed impediment when evaluating the quality of a debater's speaking and telling the judge to evaluate a speech as if it were given in an entirely different way or as if you only had a transcript. Such an accommodation would not be a reasonable request unless the other debaters in the round were judged similarly and, even then, it's a much tougher request for the judge to conjure up a form of the speech they didn't actually witness rather than simply be told "Debater Smith stutters, please do your best to ignore that in their speaker points."
I know this isn't related to disclosing your stuttering, but have you thought about talking to a professional? Most school districts employ speech-language pathologists that visit most schools at least once a week to work with different students. I had an IEP in grades 3-6 for stuttering and getting access to the speech-language pathologist the district provided every Wednesday was a blessing. I had to go back my junior/senior year in high school to develop new strategies because hearing my own voice while spreading causes me to stutter (or at least that is what I/we think).
Hey—I know this is an old post but wanted to see if you had any words of advice? I'm a captain of my debate team and one of our new novices has a pretty severe stutter. She obviously loves the activity so I want to encourage her as much as possible and would love any help
Hey! I actually am captain of my debate team in MN now! I made it to state and nat quals last year! My stutter isn’t as prominent as it used to be but let her know that her stutter doesn’t make her a bad debater or a bad speaker. Repeating a word doesn’t mean you don’t know what you’re talking about or that you’re not intelligent. Keep prevailing!
As a person with a stutter who did speech and debate for many years, the activity is pretty shitty to those with speech impediments. If you email the tournament directors beforehand they can let your judges know the nature of your stuttering and ensure you aren't penalized. You really have to cite the ADA of 1990 though for them to care. If they ignore your request, which they do (A LOT), perhaps you can find some printable resource from the national stuttering foundation website which you can give to your judges (kinda like a brief info sheet about stuttering).
do you feel that you're penalized in speaker points or wins for stuttering? I've only judged one debater with a stutter. def a unique issue in a speech performance activity.
Honestly, do whatever you are most comfortable with. Some judges might give you a boost if you disclose- some will even do so subconciously regardless of whether or not you disclose. Others won't. If you're a decent speaker who is still able to effectively communicate (and it sounds like you are), I think most judges and opponents will roll with it no matter what.
When I debated I learned that I had to disclose that I was hearing impaired to get the accommodations I needed. I don’t think it will be pity points, but rather a better way for everyone to understand who you are as a person and how the debate should be handled given the situation. Just my thoughts tho🤙🏾
"full disclosure I have a stutter, please award speaker points based on sentence structure and on the content of the words as if it were being read from a word document"
It's fine (possibly even a good idea, depending on your circuit norms) to say something at the outset like "I have a stutter, please forgive me if I stumble a bit and let me know if I'm unclear." But do not try to dictate how the judge evaluates speaker points or ask them to judge you on something entirely different than your speaking (reading from a script). If you want the judge to do that, then you'll need to request a disability accommodation from the tournament in advance. If the tournament agrees, then it will give your judges that instruction.
Unfortunately though, most judges do not know anything about stuttering and WILL penalize you for it, even if they don't say anything on the ballot. (Source: have received countless shitty comments from uneducated judges on the local and national level even after submitting an ADA request form) Also, the OP shouldn't have to say anything resembling an apology for their speech impediment.
> Unfortunately though, most judges do not know anything about stuttering and WILL penalize you for it, even if they don't say anything on the ballot. (Source: have received countless shitty comments from uneducated judges on the local and national level even after submitting an ADA request form) 1. If the judge isn't going to heed instructions given by tab about how to handle a disability, they are certainly not going to accept instructions from the debater requesting accommodation directly. So the above advice is still a bad idea -- at best it will be ignored, at worst it will backfire and result in even lower scores. 2. Was your ADA accommodation request granted? What was the instruction that the tournaments agreed to give judges? Were those instructions indeed given? (If not, then you can't blame the judge for not giving an accommodation they didn't know to give, but also you may have grounds to sue those tournaments for ADA violation.) Since disabilities are very fact-specific and accommodations are generally tailored to the exact needs of the person and what's reasonable in light of the activity and venue, one person's experience is difficult to compare to any other person's, even if they have the same general disability (stutter) and also do debate. 3. There's a pretty big difference between telling a judge to try to ignore a speed impediment when evaluating the quality of a debater's speaking and telling the judge to evaluate a speech as if it were given in an entirely different way or as if you only had a transcript. Such an accommodation would not be a reasonable request unless the other debaters in the round were judged similarly and, even then, it's a much tougher request for the judge to conjure up a form of the speech they didn't actually witness rather than simply be told "Debater Smith stutters, please do your best to ignore that in their speaker points."
I know this isn't related to disclosing your stuttering, but have you thought about talking to a professional? Most school districts employ speech-language pathologists that visit most schools at least once a week to work with different students. I had an IEP in grades 3-6 for stuttering and getting access to the speech-language pathologist the district provided every Wednesday was a blessing. I had to go back my junior/senior year in high school to develop new strategies because hearing my own voice while spreading causes me to stutter (or at least that is what I/we think).
Hey—I know this is an old post but wanted to see if you had any words of advice? I'm a captain of my debate team and one of our new novices has a pretty severe stutter. She obviously loves the activity so I want to encourage her as much as possible and would love any help
Hey! I actually am captain of my debate team in MN now! I made it to state and nat quals last year! My stutter isn’t as prominent as it used to be but let her know that her stutter doesn’t make her a bad debater or a bad speaker. Repeating a word doesn’t mean you don’t know what you’re talking about or that you’re not intelligent. Keep prevailing!
As a person with a stutter who did speech and debate for many years, the activity is pretty shitty to those with speech impediments. If you email the tournament directors beforehand they can let your judges know the nature of your stuttering and ensure you aren't penalized. You really have to cite the ADA of 1990 though for them to care. If they ignore your request, which they do (A LOT), perhaps you can find some printable resource from the national stuttering foundation website which you can give to your judges (kinda like a brief info sheet about stuttering).
do you feel that you're penalized in speaker points or wins for stuttering? I've only judged one debater with a stutter. def a unique issue in a speech performance activity.