[ Contents | Search | Next | Previous | Up ]
From: John Paskievich
Date: 19 Oct 2007
Time: 23:07:30 -0500
Remote Name: 24.77.216.171
Hi Joe; I used to have major problems talking on the phone but by doing a lot of telephoning it has ceased to be a problem with me. Radio and TV interviews were very difficult, but I think I turned a major corner last week when I did a radio interview about photography and didn't try at all to pretend that I was fluent. I left the studio feeling quite liberated and elated and eager to do more of these things as a way of desensitizing myself. I know if I did a lot of these interviews I would be able to handle them the way I handle the phone. Talking with teen-agers can present problems because their reactions to stuttering can be so immature and stupid. When meeting individuals to raise money for projects I sometimes still fall back into the old habit of trying to disguise my stutter because so much is at stake. We may not be able to eradiicate conditioned reactions totally but we certainly can dilute them considerably. I wish you all the best.