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From: Alyssa Reuvers, B.S.
Date: 05 Oct 2011
Time: 15:10:07 -0500
Remote Name: 143.236.34.53
Wow. As an assignment for my graduate level Fluency class, I am experiencing the International Stuttering Awareness Day website. Your post was the first one I came to and I found myself responding to many of the issues you bring up. First, I’d like to thank you for allowing me to expand my knowledge through your story. Although I am just a student, many of the ideas I have building in my head about stuttering, stereotypes, the media, and environmental factors seem to be reinforced by your paper. Another thing I have to comment on is your relentlessness. Your journey sounds long and challenging but for you to “come to terms” and finally say, “I stutter and that’s okay” is admirable. For many individuals that haven’t come to that step in their lives, I wonder if you are some sort of hero to them. I read the stages you experienced, including the “why me” phase. This is so powerful, not only for an SLP, but to a person who does not stutter. What I found almost shocking was your interaction with some of your teachers and how they made fun of you. As I reevaluate my thoughts I realize that I have lived in this little bubble of speech-language pathology for the last four years and I might have been sheltered from those negative responses. Taking it a step further, in my fluency class we discuss reactions to stuttering and a common theme is “lack of knowledge”. The general public hasn’t been exposed to stuttering and a response of laughing might be pure shock. (Not in the case of your teacher.) Another thing you mentioned was the girlfriend who commented, “I didn’t know you had retarded brother.” Is this the case of one girl being ignorant or a general lack of knowledge of what stuttering is. Some questions I would pose to you (any other people who stutter) is why do you think speech therapy didn’t work for you? Was it the clinician, the goals, or other factors? I guess this could be an unanswerable question, but as an “SLP in the making”, I can’t not be curious. I thank you for your story and allowing me to respond to your amazing life journey.