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From: Irene Bullard
Date: 17 Oct 2011
Time: 12:08:23 -0500
Remote Name: 76.214.57.74
Your amazing article brought out many of the emotions I had felt as a child and occassionally now afterover 60 years plus years of being a PWS. I was a very severe overt PWS. I too tried to hide my stuttering as much as possible but I have come to learn that it only makes the stuttering worse. The fears, shame and guilt regarding stuttering were only reinforced for me with trying to hide it but using certain techniques to be more fluent in not necessarily hiding it but only dealing with it in an open way, that is open to myself It is amazing how much I identified with what you expressed feeling during your childhood. My stuttering too was not talked about except to be told to slow down, think before I speak, etc. The guilt of not being able to control my stuttering was awful. Not talking would have been the easy way out and often was, but I had an overwhelming voice inside me that made me want to be heard but that often was unsuccessful as my stuttering was so severe. I could not avoid certain sounds or words because most all words or sounds were difficult. I tended to be fluent only when words just popped out as when playing or having fun or maybe when being angry. It just dawned that a person who has a stutter is called either a person who stutters or a stutterer. Therefore, it is something that we do. As a person who cannot see, you are called a person who is blind, Therefore, being blind is not something that you do and you have no control over the fact that you cannot see. Stuttering being something that you do, might have made it much more difficult to deal with because you and others did feel that you have control over it. So when thinking we should have control over stuttering, the shame of not being able to do so is only increased. Thank you for this article, it really brought out strong emotions in me, but I feel that the more I have faced the emotions surrounding my stuttering the better I am at dealing with it. Even at the age of 66 I am still uncovering some of the iceberg of stuttering making acceptance even better than the achievements that I have already made. Your thoughts on this are appreciated. I know this comment is long but you have really inspired me! Thanks again.