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From: Roya Shahi (NYU)
Date: 21 Oct 2009
Time: 16:44:51 -0500
Remote Name: 24.193.83.27
Hi Cathy, I was deeply moved by your article- I can only imagine what it must have been like for you to hide your stuttering for so long. People tend to go to great lengths to hide what they may view as a disability, from people in the outside world. As a master's student in Speech-Language Pathology at NYU, I have learned about some of these avoidance behaviors in one of my classes. Your experiences further highlight how far one can go to avoid dealing with the repercussions associated with being a stutterer. You do state in your article, "Hiding my stuttering has been such a big part of my life - a daily occurrence - that if it becomes visible, will I still be the same person in people's eyes?" (when talking about revealing your stuttering to friends, family, and co-workers). I wonder, how do you feel about this as an avoidance, or secondary behavior? Do you think that if you were to go ahead and reveal being a stutterer to the aforementioned people, you would feel further empowered? I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to learn from your experiences, and look forward to hearing from you.