About On Birds and Humans
Depending on the environment in which children are raised, the peers that they spend time every day, the parents’ attitude towards the situation, preschool teachers and class teachers, the child will – either have a hard time or fit in nicely.
We met a boy with a stutter so severe that his words are unintelligible in a nursery school while recording another programme from our schedule. The first time we had to use “subtitles” for him because few of his words could be understood.
Each time we met him after that, he was doing better… The other children in his preschool group were treating him absolutely normally: him being different was part of their friendship.
We continued to record the children and never spoke about stuttering again. The boy was a frequent guest in our programme because he offered very inciteful, unusual and unexpected answers.
His remarks were often beyond his age.
He wasn’t precocious. We could just see that he received much attention from his parents.
This is why he is part of this programme.
Later we met a therapist Nikoleta Stevović, who was also recording her little “attendant”. And this is how this programme came about.
In addition to this, while browsing through recent scientific research, we discovered a comparison between the human voice and bird song.
And now we tease you to try and tell if a bird is chirping in the programme…
Or if it is a human being!!!
This is why our programme is called ON BIRDS AND HUMANS.
Complete text (English version, in pdf)
Music Cue Sheet - OnBirdsandHumans
Credits
Genre • Documentary
Series • Family Story
Title • On Birds and Humans
Duration • 21' 34''
Recording techniques • Radio Belgrade 1 studio and mobile phone
Author • Vesna Ćorović Butrić
Music • Petar Vujanović
Directed by • Vesna Ćorović Butrić, Aleksandar Petrović
Sound Design • Aleksandar Petrović
Expert Consultant • Nikoleta Stevović, MSc in Special Education and Speech Pathology, certified therapist in the Passive Airflow Technique
Coordinator of the project Creative Europe for RTS, Radio Belgrade • Nikoleta Dojčinović
Programme Material • Boy, preschooler, with a severe stutter; recorded in nursery school with other boys and girls who do not stutter; Boy, school age, who comes to therapy.
Premiere • November 29th, 2021, on Radio Belgrade 1
Translation • Katarina Bogdanović
Funded by • Radio Television of Serbia
Supported by • the Ministry of Culture and Information of Serbia
Biographies
Vesna Ćorović Butrić graduated from the Faculty of Philology in 1981, obtaining a degree in Teaching Yugoslav Literature and Serbo-Croatian Language. She joined Radio Belgrade in 1983. In 1993, she transferred from Radio to the Education Department of Television Belgrade. She came back to Radio Belgrade in 2003 to work as Editor-in-Chief of the Education Programme for Children, Youth and Family. Vesna wrote and edited the following books: Džepno pile, 1989 (Pocket-Size Chicken), Šta je unutra, 1995 (What’s inside), Ulica na ljuljaški, 1999 (Street on a Swing) – Neven Award, Kuća na koncu, 2000 (House on a String), Biću snovoslagač, 2001 (I’ll be a Dreamsetter) - Sigridrug Award for Best Children’s, Monodrama - with Slobodan Beštić, Ostaviti kod Ruže, 2003 (Leave it at Ruža’s Place) – “Rade Obrenovic” Award for Best Children’s Novel, Dobro jutro deco, 2004 (Good Morning, Children) - with Jovan Ljuštanović and Bratislav Milanović, Vidim te - ne vidim te, 2005 (Now I see you – Now I don’t) – short stories, Unatraške, 2007 (Backwards), Žuto je plavo, 2008 (Yellow is Blue), Znam, 2011 (I know), C,c,c, 2017 (Tz, tz, tz) – street stories (for adults), Izmislica, 2018 (Fiddle-Faddle) - „Gordana Brajović” Award, Bongo i družina retkih kućnih ljubimaca, 2019 (Bongo and the Rare Pets Society). Vesna Ćorović Butrić is also winner of the Sundial Prize of the “Sirmium” Centre of Culture from Sremska Mitrovica. In 2021, she received the Award of Zmaj Children’s Games for her creative contribution to contemporary expression in children’s literature.
Aleksandar Petrović, a Musician, sound designer and journalist, editor of complex programmes, employed at the Education Programme for Children, Youth and Family in Radio Belgrade 1. After completing secondary school in 1989, he joined Radio Belgrade as electrotechnician for receiving and studio radio technique and started working in the Technical Department of Radio Belgrade, where he worked until 2006. During that time, he also started his music career as songwriter and lead vocalist of the band Orthodox Celts. Very soon he started his career as programme host and editor, as well. In 2000, he earned his license and title of Sound Designer. In 2006, he transferred to the Education Programme for Children, Youth and Family in Radio Belgrade 1, where he has worked to this day, editing, producing and hosting programmes, and writing scripts and short stories for children for the purpose of the programme. He works as a rock critic for many media. Since 1993, he has been the songwriter and lead vocalist of the band Orthodox Celts. Together with the band, he released six studio albums. He has won many recognitions in the field of popular and rock music. In 2016, he represented Radio Belgrade on an international project “World Music Day” with a radiophonic piece titled “Sindidun Mitologike”. He wrote two books, “Usnuli zmajevi” (Sleeping Dragons) and “Kuća od pesama” (House Made of Songs) – published by the department he works in. With the band Orthodox Celts, he has performed more than 1000 times all over the world.
Nikoleta Stevović, MSc, is Speech-Language Pathologists, Bach Practitioner. While working on preventing, diagnosing and rehabilitating speech and language disorders at the Institute of Experimental Phonetics and Speech Pathology in Belgrade (1998-2011), Ms Stevović obtained a vast scientific and practical knowledge that she combined in a multidisciplinary approach to speech and language, but also to the body as the key instigator. She specialised in stuttering in New York with Doctor Martin Schwartz at the National Centre for Stuttering, where she acquired knowledge on how to practice passive airflow therapy, which completely changed her career path, but also her personal path (2005). Determined to keep up with the latest global trends, she also became a trained practitioner of neurobiofeedback therapy, which revealed the connection between body and mind in a very explicit manner, hence also helping to have a better insight into the problem of stuttering and understand persons who stutter in terms of their own experience of what is happening inside their bodies, the emotions that come with it and expressions of all of this that are visible to others (2006). Given that she is an advocate of a holistic approach to problem- solving, Doctor Edward Bach’s medical system seemed reasonable, so she completed her training and became a certified Bach practitioner (2012). Her scientific focus has shifted to practical work and applying her knowledge in a two-way communication with children and adults, her patients, so she opened the Centre for Education Fluenta (2013). She believes that a therapist who is in harmony with oneself, with others and one’s surroundings, whose mind and body are in sync, is the best instigator and motivator for those who need help.
