Being Real

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Feeling REAL

From: J. Bryson-Barnes
Date: 21 Oct 2007
Time: 19:25:59 -0500
Remote Name: 74.227.206.159

Comments

Dr. Shapiro, First of all, I would like to thank you for being such a passionate and encouraging person. You really take heart in everything you do. As a graduate student clinician I feel so very lucky to have you as a professor. I truly admire your extreme commitment to helping those who stutter. As you quoted from The Velveteen Rabbit, “once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.” I feel this is such an inspirational line which applies to anyone who has ever had a life experience of being “REAL.” As you know, people who stutter encounter many different trials and tribulations throughout life. This particular quote seems to shed light on the fact that if you are truly REAL then you possess a beauty that all people may not understand. However, this beauty makes you a unique individual and you are treasured for this beauty. This is such an important message to people who stutter and means so much more since it is coming from someone who stutters, like you. My question to you as a clinician is, when working with children (who are aware of their stuttering) or teens, what is the most important thing that you teach them when dealing with their own individual attitudes and feelings about stuttering? I am curious if you have ever had any conflict with what you taught a child or teen as opposed to what the family wanted the child or teen to learn in regards to the teaching of a positive attitude. If so, how would you handle such a situation? Thank you very much for all of your hard work and time that you spend dedicated to this field.


Last changed: 10/22/07