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From: Alan Badmington (to Dick)
Date: 05 Oct 2010
Time: 14:23:43 -0500
Remote Name: 95.144.69.192
Hi Dick, Thank you for taking the time to read my paper and participate in the threaded discussion. I’m delighted that you enjoyed reminiscing about the role that your family has played in your life. Your pride in their contribution is most evident. In many respects, our experiences have been somewhat similar. I was fortunate to enjoy an idyllic childhood in which my parents were so supportive. They never said (nor did) anything that would have adversely affected my confidence. They encouraged me to live a full and active life, allowing me freedom to develop and declining to undertake speaking roles/tasks on my behalf. Despite stuttering quite severely in certain situations, I was never teased or bullied at school. Maybe this was due to the fact that, as a result of my positive upbringing, I enjoyed high degree of self-esteem and self-belief. The fact that I was a prominent sportsman also, undoubtedly, impacted favourably upon the way in which my contemporaries reacted to me. I totally agree that social skills are of prime importance. It has been my experience that many persons who stutter are, quite understandably, deficient in this area. This is not surprising because they tend to remain on the fringes of social interaction. I’m not talking about fluency – I’m referring to the art of conversation and the ability to communicate effectively. For more than 20 years, I wore a small prosthetic device (called the Edinburgh Masker) that emitted an annoying buzzing sound into my ears (via tubes and ear-moulds). It improved my speech but never made me fluent. However, under the umbrella of that horrific noise, I somehow gained the confidence to challenge myself in areas that I know I would, otherwise, have avoided. At times I struggled, but I was proud of what I achieved. As a result, I acquired useful interpersonal skills which proved invaluable when I decided to discard my 'mechanical crutch' and make one last effort to deal with the issues relating to my speech. Without such skills, I am convinced that my journey would have been so much more difficult. Your interest in my paper is greatly appreciated. Kindest regards Alan