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From: Lynne Shields
Date: 08 Oct 2010
Time: 11:57:44 -0500
Remote Name: 68.188.68.2
Pam, Well, such an experience is certainly an opportunity to education the physician or other professional who makes such a statement. Whether or not you would choose to do this might depend on the situation and the person. If you know this physician to be someone who is open to new information, it might be worth telling them that, while they may never have heard you stutter before, you certainly do know yourself to be someone who stutters; that stuttering is a variable disorder, that sometimes you are able to hide the stuttering (or whatever the case). I don't see a problem with your ignoring the statement, if you aren't up for educating, or if you know that the particular person will not really listen. I don't think you are obligated to educate someone about stuttering just because you happen to stutter. I think that your response might be best dictated by what you believe will allow you to feel successful in that situation. I'm all for laying the responsibility on the one who owns it! If the person is clearly being either obviously unthinking or even rude in some way, a simple "your response tells me that there is quite a bit about stuttering that you don't know" would not be unreasonable comeback. In the situation you described, you gave a reasonable response to clear up the doctor's misunderstanding. Dropping it is a reasonable response, so I don't think there is another way you SHOULD have handled it. There are certainly other options, as I suggested above, but I would hope that you'd feel no obligation to do other than you did. Best wishes on your next encounter :-) Lynne