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From: Pam Mertz, New York, USA
Date: 07 Oct 2010
Time: 19:11:35 -0500
Remote Name: 67.248.218.106
I am very impressed with the work that you did, and the willingness of your brother and his therapist to be part of this film. It is extremely important to spread the word about the impact this has on us. And you are right - most people who don't stutter or know someone who stutters, just don't get it. A couple years ago, when I worked with people with disabilities, I learned that three people in the program I was assigned stuttered, but had not received any therapy, because everyone assumed that was the least of their worries, because they also have Down Syndrome. But of course stuttering bothered them. And they wanted that recognized. Because I stutter, I was able to talk with them about it and also refer them for speech therapy. And as you said about Jef, much more effort was needed for them to focus on stuttering modification strategies, and the student-clinicians working with them had to modify their work, as all three had challenges with reading. But, they all benefited from having someone talk with them about how stuttering affected them, and it benefited the therapists to get perspective on working with stuttering and concurrent disabilities. Again, what a wonderful job. Clearly, a work of love. Congratulations! ~ Pam