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From: Will Richards
Date: 02 Oct 2012
Time: 02:59:09 -0500
Remote Name: 90.192.154.18
I would advise not writing in such an academic manner because to do so automatically rules out many suffering stutterers who are seeking help and who are not able to understand. It may also lead to confusion for those who are trying to understand and a part of that confusion may include the perception that covert stuttering is done by dishonest people who are not true to themselves. Using the following quotes may fuel such a perception. "DeGeneres allowed herself to become a poster girl - not for lesbianism, but for honesty. DeGeneres risked her professional reputation for personal freedom.” Covertness can lead to greater fluency for many and so it should not always be regarded as the poor relation to overtness. In your article you are trying to establish what can be learnt from other groups who come out of the closet and you use a lesbian as an example. You state ‘Understanding the closet for other populations will begin to aid our understanding of the possible consistencies with the experiences of persons who stutter covertly.’ It is easy to understand the closet of a covert stutterer. How many of us would choose to be overt when having a conversation in a street and knowing that every time we stuttered all of our clothes would fall off. That is the world of many covert stutterers and to advise a covert to be overt should be done with caution. Many talk about the disadvantages of being covert and many do not realise that for some it is a natural process such as blinking and that to change requires even more effort than to just simply remain covert. Many coverts have improved their lives by being overt and many coverts have improved their lives by being covert. Some coverts have remained covert and it has then led to them becoming overt. Many coverts are naturally a covert type of person as well as being a covert stutterer and so technically they are not even in the closet. They are being true to themselves as effectively as they can and they are just simply trying to survive as best they can and for many that is the best way. Confusion on the subject of covertness often arises from not realising that overts sometimes use covert behaviour and vice versa.