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From: Russ Hicks
Date: 17 Oct 2008
Time: 17:20:38 -0500
Remote Name: 70.104.19.41
Hi Ashley, What a great philosophical question! The project itself is designed primarily to benefit SLP students, but as you correctly surmised, there ARE definite benefits for people who stutter who participate in this exercise too. I can think of at least two benefits: First it gives us a perfect opportunity to go up to someone and freely admit "I STUTTER!" And for lots of stutterers, that's more difficult to do than it appears on the surface. But in the vast majority of the cases, when a stutterer finally gets up the courage to do that, he feels VASTLY relieved and a lot of times feels a huge weight has been lifted off his shoulders. And a lot of times he is almost surprised that you didn't pull a gun on him and shoot him! I know that sounds totally amazing, but the shame and embarrassment of coping with stuttering - which fluent people don't think that much about - is almost overwhelming. And to get POSITIVE feedback on this admission is a HUGE benefit. .... Second, is that it gives us some pride in the ownership of the education of you SLP students. You may not be able to help US, per se, but you will be able to help our children and grandchildren. And to be a part of this process is truly a wonderful feeling. .... And yes, you definitely ARE giving to the stuttering community when you participate in projects like this - or even visit a local NSA chapter. ... I hope this helps. Did I answer your question well enough? I hope so. It was really an excellent question! ..... I wish you the best in school and in your future career, Ashley. I hope our paths cross sometime. ..... Russ