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From: Steve Hood
Date: 10/3/02
Time: 10:00:56 AM
Remote Name: 199.33.133.50
Good morning, Russ. Thanks for sharing such a tremendously powerful paper. It is often the case that because of stuttering, PWS's have choices to make: to be courageous and face the emotional and behavioral things that need to be done to deal with it; or, to suffer from the feelings of denial, shame and guilt that let the person remain the helpless victim who lets stuttering become a handicap or disability. Persons who stutter are among the most courageous people I know and I think that one of the reasons for courage is the stuttering that preceeded it. When I think of your accomplishments in Toast Masters and the National Stuttering Association, it seems that you have nurtured your stuttering and have allowed it to be a gift for you. It seems that as an outgrowh, stutttering has given you an extra-ordinary amount of courage at the gut level. In the months following 9/11, I read some of the things that NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani said and wrote. A couple of brief quotes speak to the issue of courage that you so beautifully raised: (1) "Courage is doing what you have to do, even though you are afraid." (2) "Courage is about the management of fear, not the absence of fear." PWS often voice what they believe is their need to eliminate their fears of speaking and stuttering. This may not always be totally possible; however, I believe it is possible to at least reduce the fear, and then develop the courage to successfully manage the residual fears that remain. I hope your paper inspires other to allow stuttering to become the gift that will increase their courage. Thanks for sharing your inights, Russ.