Doing the Work

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Doing the Work

From: Dave Williams
Date: 13 Oct 2009
Time: 15:22:35 -0500
Remote Name: 98.219.124.61

Comments

Hi, Ellen-Marie. Your article is as intriguing as you always are. Some of the exotic terminology slowed me down a bit, but I think I absorbed much of what you have to say (whatever I mean by 'absorbed'). Anyway, I empathized with it, and I think I have achieved some of the desired goals--though I'm not sure how. As you know, I have had a problem with stuttering, but that problem has diminished almost to the vanishing point, I wish I could tell why, but I'm not at all sure. I still have occasional momentary blocks but they are unpredicted, fleeting, and with no negative affect either before, during, or after the block, and they aren't related to any particular speaking situation. They are just little inconsequentional happenings, probably leftovers from many years of habit strength. I'm a happy person, and I like people (I've always had more of an 'approach' feeling toward people than an 'avoidance' feeling, even when my stuttering was at its worst. I was always intropunitive, regarding myself as a neurotic weirdo, but that feeling has been gone for years, Now I know I'm absolutely normal--no more and no less than anyone else. I'll be 88 in December, and I'm in generally good health. The most dramatic incident was surgery for colon cancer last December, but that's now history. My wife ("DJ") and I are living in an "assisted living" facility in Sarasota, FL, and all is well though I have seen more doctors than Kellogg has cornflakes. The only regret I have is all the years I spent (or wasted) being enmeshed in my stuttering problem. But all that is in the past. I used to be terrified of the telephone, and now if anything I'm more fluent on the phone than in face-to-face talking. Our two daughters will visit us in December---they come several times each year. One works with handicapped kids in Loveland, CO and the other is a research professor in the Wisconsin College of Medicine in Milwaukee. We're a happy family. I wish I could tell just what happened to cause these changes in myself. All I can say is that I went through all the proper procedures (speech therapy, etc.) but I feel there has to be more. I'd dearly love to be able to write it all down, and perhaps help others. I was golng to write a paper for this conference, explaining why I changed, but I simply couldn't. I just was not sure. I would welcome any comments you may have, and any questions. Hope all goes well with you. Dave


Last changed: 10/13/09