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From: Retz
Date: 16 Oct 2010
Time: 14:21:15 -0500
Remote Name: 205.213.113.52
Tim -- As I read this paper and your comments I had some mixed emotions surface in me regarding Dean Williams. I had had a number of very positive professional and personal interactions with Dean at different conferences, in phone conversations and written correspondences which I still have. I always looked forward to talking with him about small mouth bass fishing in Door County when I saw him! He always inspired and encouraged me as a professional and as a person who stutters. Kind of a hero to me! It affected me when he died. He was, to me, one of the "GREAT ONES". About 6 - 7 years ago at a support group meeting for adults who stutter and parents of children who stutter at the University of Wisconsin - River Falls, I met a older gentleman - about 65 -68 at the time, who told the group that evening his journey as a person who stutters and the affects therapies and therapists had on him. As he shared his story, his extreme severity of stuttering was quite evident. One of the experiences he shared with us that greatly affected him was very disturbing and heart wrenching for all of us listening, but especially to me. Seems as a young man he was part of a research project at the University of Iowa where electrical shock was administered to stutterers in response to stuttering. He shared the name of Dean Williams (and his personal feelings about him) a number of times regarding the planning and administering of the shock during the numerous research episodes. As this man told his story, he was so full of emotions and feelings about this episode of his life and the enormity of the effects it had on him that I was moved to tears. It appeared one of my professional "heroes" had been part of activities that forever supremely negatively affected - at least to this man - his communication skills and overall quality of life. I guess I've never looked at Dean quite the same way as I had since then. Had Dean still been alive at the time, I would have called him, asked him and talked with him about it. Unfortunately, he was dead. My memories felt troubled about it all as I read Peter's paper and your comments. Just weird.