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From: Kevin Eldridge
Date: 10/2/02
Time: 10:56:58 PM
Remote Name: 63.71.245.9
Bob, As soon as the ISAD conference opened I looked for an article by you. I was not disappointed.
I must admit, that even though I am a PWS I didn't get it at first. I knew nothing about stuttering before entering therapy at age 19 (it was taboo to discuss in my house even though I was the 4th generation to stutter). Then I went through a fluency training program and sounded pretty darn normal. I was told (or heard) that fluency was the goal and believed it. I entered the field of communication disorders to cure the whole lot of stutterers. Then I found out that many professors still stuttered (hmmm...) and many clients still stuttered (hmmm...). Hey I thought I would be rich since I knew the answer. I was gonna be Annie Sullivan, and every PWS was gonna be my Helen Keller! Yep... I was a PWS who was an SLP with a CCC who didn't know SH*T. Well, I'm not rich, I realize now that I'm not cured, and I could never wear one of those dresses that Annie S. wore. I realize that I am just awful darn lucky that talking is easier for me than lots of other people who stutter. I have come to this revelation having seen many less PWS than your letter writer has. A line from Gomer Pyle comes to mind (please read with a signicant country twang) "SHAME ON HIM, SHAME ON HIM".
As you said, the horrifying aspect of this letter is that someone as comfortable as they are with themselves and their stuttering as you, was deeply hurt by this letter. As a friend I feel this was truly unfortunate, and am saddened it had to happen to you. Even more horrifying, as you suggest, is what this could do to an individual who was not in possession of such high self-esteem.
My question now is what do we do about those who don't get it?
Kevin