[ Contents]
From: Lynne Shields
Date: 10/7/02
Time: 1:35:25 PM
Remote Name: 199.217.208.172
Chris,
Thanks for clarifying your viewpoint. If your reason for letting more stuttering out is to 'fit in' as someone who really stutters, I would agree with you that this is not necessarily a positive experience. You could well walk away feeling that you have not really been acting as your true self. And, then, I'm guessing, you are not really feeling supported as a person who stutters.
For a mild stutterer to feel a need to do this suggests to me that the particular support group is, as you say, perhaps too much focused on one reality. For the group to serve the needs of all members, I would hope that this could be introduced as a topic of discussion (or reintroduced). And, it should be a topic of frequent discussion if the goals of each person at the meeting are to be respected and valued. I realize that this does not always work out in the world--sometimes, there are members of a group who simply cannot see things from a quite different perspective.
You seem to be suggesting segregated support meetings--one for the more severe and one for the milder folks. That's a possible solution, particularly if this has been a long-term problem in your support community. On the other hand, where does the person who is outwardly quite fluent, but hides their stuttering through avoidance and tricks, go for support? They sound like they fit in better with the milder folks, yet they would probably benefit from being around a bunch of people who stutter openly, and might allow this person to begin to let some of the stuttering out and let go of some of the tricks. Hmmm--a dilemma, isn't it? Perhaps breakout sessions or side sessions for particular subgroups within the larger group?
There is no easy solution, but you bring up a very valid point. Support groups must work much harder, if the shoe fits, to listen to and speak to ALL constituents in the group, and to come up with ways that everyone can be heard. It is most unfortunate for any part of a group to feel like a second class citizen.
Regards,
Lynne