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From: Paul Goldstein
Date: 09 Oct 2011
Time: 21:57:25 -0500
Remote Name: 46.66.195.234
Hi, Benny! It's great to see you here, and I'm glad you enjoyed the article! At events of NIFS [the Norwegian national stuttering association] and at the Nordic Conferences, I have talked with quite a few native Norwegians who stutter. It is difficult, however, to compare their experiences with mine - since they generally don't have the perspective of moving from one country to another. They therefore aren't in a similar position of being able to compare life as a person who stutters, over a period of many years, within multiple countries. It's also hard to answer whether Norwegians who stutter generally have an easier time than people who stutter in other countries. My feeling is probably yes - due to Norway's quiet atmosphere, the Norwegian national philosophy of equality of people, the reduced pressure to speak, and the lack of pressure to conform to a specific norm when speaking. I believe, based on my personal experiences, that Americans who stutter have a somewhat more difficult time within their society than Norwegians who stutter have within theirs. But I really can't compare all this to the situations of people who stutter in other countries. So I wouldn't want to claim that Norwegian life for people who stutter is significantly easier than life for people who stutter in other countries.