STUTTERING FOUNDATION Q & A: BRIAN FRAGA
Brian Fraga is an award-winning journalist and reporter from Massachusetts. He sat down with the Stuttering Foundation to discuss his many life and career successes along his lifelong journey with stuttering.
SFA: Do you remember when you first began to stutter?
BRIAN: I remember having a stutter when I was a little kid, before kindergarten.
Does it run in your family? Who else stutters?
Yes. I am told my late mother had a stutter. I have a brother who also stutters, and my daughter at times stutters also.
Did you seek treatment? Did it help? Location:
I am from New Bedford, Massachusetts. I currently live in Fall River, Massachusetts.
Profession:
I am a journalist, a staff writer covering news in the Catholic Church for The National Catholic Reporter.
Family:
I have been married to my wife Catherine for almost 14 years. We have a daughter, Hope (5).
Hobbies, Interests, Passions: My family and its history, my friendships, my community, reading, watching sports, genealogy, cooking, video games.
Successes:
I have been an award-winning local newspaper reporter, garnering awards from the New England Newspaper and Press Association and the Society of Professional Journalists. I have also won several awards as a Catholic journalist from the Catholic Media Association.
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I received in-school speech therapy through middle school. Before I began high school, I attended an intensive month-long speech program where I learned “strategies” related to breath control, first sounds, pace and how to back out of a block. That helped me considerably.
Tell us about your experience with stuttering as a child.
I had my share of difficulties. Every school year, the first day of class was terrifying when the teacher would ask the class to go around the room to introduce themselves. I dreaded oral presentations and being called upon in class. Some kids would make mean-spirited comments and mimic me. It made me very self-conscious and I internalized a sense of shame. I lacked self-confidence and was not as outgoing as I could have been because I didn’t want to speak up in class or take leadership positions that would require me to speak in public.
Has your stuttering gotten worse or better since you were younger? How?
It’s gotten a lot better. As I got older, I became better at controlling my speech and using the strategies I had first learned as a teenager to maintain fluency, even in higher stress situations like public speaking. My career requires numerous interviews over the phone, occasional interviews on radio and television, and I think that has helped me to learn and maintain control, as well as not to avoid speaking situations.
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