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From: Russ Hicks
Date: 12 Oct 2009
Time: 18:47:48 -0500
Remote Name: 71.252.253.154
Alan, Thanks for your kind words. I've used that playing cards analogy many times myself and it really works. Stuttering is a difficult card to play, but if played well it can be very powerful. If played with the victim mentality, it does indeed have the capability to destroy your life. .... Last week I had lunch with a girl who was a nurse who stuttered. She works in the pediatric oncology department of a local major hospital and works around children who have cancer. She told me that recognizing THAT card they were dealt makes her realize how lucky she is "just" to stutter! She has an amazing attitude about her own speech. But her focus is on OTHER PEOPLE, not dwelling on the "poor me" aspect of her stuttering. It makes all the difference in the world! .... Our challenge now - you and me - is to get other people who stutter to get their tails in gear and help us educate people about stuttering. We both speak all the time to all kinds of groups while a large number of our compatriots just sit back and claim they caaaaan't do that because, sniff, sniff, they stutter! How can we put a well placed boot in their backsides and get them out there speaking to people? It's frustrating to see how much work there is to do and how few of us really do it. .... Hope you're enjoying the conference, Alan! See you on Stutt-L!