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From: Charlie Osborne
Date: 19 Oct 2009
Time: 09:11:07 -0500
Remote Name: 143.236.35.203
Michelle: It sounds to me as though your public school personnel are over-reacting, to put it mildly. From your report, the school secretary put her foot in her mouth. I would have hoped that the school principal would have recognized her verbal blunder and apologized for it. I believe that you and your husband were acting within your rights, and your son’s, to bring this to the school’s attention. Ironically, I would have thought that the school would have been more concerned over how this reflected on the school (and perhaps on any child who attends the school that stutters), and that rather than the apparent defensive response you have received, they would have welcomed your criticism. The example you provided to the principal was, again, to me, entirely appropriate. This situation runs in a similar vein as the verbal blunder by Sheila Johnson a week or so ago, even though I bet the school secretary didn’t overtly mean to be insensitive. I would suggest that you go the National Stuttering Association’s web site, http://www.nsastutter.org/index.html , and look at their response to the comments Ms. Johnson made while endorsing a political candidate. The NSA’s response may be helpful information to share. Good luck with your discussion with the school superintendent.