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From: Dave Williams
Date: 01 Oct 2008
Time: 13:39:39 -0500
Remote Name: 71.228.93.115
Thanks for your comments, Pam! No. I didn't have a "defining moment" when all this came together--my "moment" came gradually, over a period of years. But it did FINALLY come, and penetrated my thick skull. Like you (and like most stutterers),I resisted, denied, avoided, and tried to hide my stuttering from its onset at the age of nine until about the time I got my Ph.D.--and even then I still had remnants of my false-role playing that needed to be resolved. And finally they were resolved, and now I live with a feeling of exuberance at how well I have managed to fulfill my own criteria of a "successful stutterer" (title of an article I wrote years ago). Also, I look back in anger at all those years I wasted in fighting and denying my stuttering, all the frustration and lost opportunities. I'm happy now, and I think I feel the way you describe yourself as feeling-- only you have evidently learned your lesson years earlier than I did. Good for you, and I hope you keep it up! I have begun writing an analysis of my 'recovery,' and may use it as my contribution to next year's conference if I can get it nailed down to my satisfaction. You and I seem to be on the same wavelength in some respects, and I'd like to exchange ideas with you now and then if you wish. Best to you.