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From:
Date: 12 Oct 2011
Time: 07:53:16 -0500
Remote Name: 131.183.156.122
I am a clinician (obviously since I am on the panel) and I am also a person who stutters. I think stuttering, in itself, can create a stigma. Disability, as a label, can also create a stigma. I have found it helpful, for myself and my clients, to think about disability at its very base. If someone is struggling with something, be it a vision impairment, obesity, stuttering, etc., then the condition is disabling. By the same token, a person can have all of these same problems but have absolutely no difficulties coping and thus have no disability. So, that is the way I think about disability. We can stutter and have a disability, or we might stutter and not (with no limitation). The practical issue is one of service. Often, I find people who stutter have difficulties with accepting that they have limitations, a disability if you will, thus they really do not have services provided to them. This is particularly glaring with school therapy. If the child or family do not use the "D" word (or the "S" word), then services might not be available. Unfortunately, that is how many school districts have to operate. There must be a documented limitation or disability secondary to stuttering. This is so easy to document, once the family and speech language pathologist know how to talk about the POTENTIAL DISABILITY that can come with stuttering. It is heartbreaking to see people not get help, simply out of fear of admitting the disability/limitations that are present.