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From: Sophie
Date: 10/5/02
Time: 12:07:59 PM
Remote Name: 165.247.32.209
Hi Brynn,
Thank you for reading our paper and for your kind words.
Here is my attempt to answer your questions:
BR: Do you belong to your local NSA chapter or any other stuttering support groups?
SBS: I belong to the Stutteringchat and Stuttering Support e-mail groups. For months I have been wanting to attend a local NSA chapter meeting, but my schedule hasn't been able to accomodate it yet. I'm going to keep trying, though. I believe there's one this Wednesday (fingers crossed).
BR: How did you come to find other people who stutter two years ago?
SBS: I'm somewhat embarrassed to say that growing up I had the misconception that to qualify as a person who stutters you had to stutter on almost every word and you had to have trouble on the same words all the time. Since my speech only seemed to be a problem when I thought about it (at times my speech could be almost fluent) and the words I had trouble with changed over time, I mistakenly thought I didn't have a true stutter. I thought what I had was a wierd speech-related affliction that no one else in the world had. To me, this was then confirmed when I went to a private SLP who referred to my speech as a "block," which I had never heard of before and had no idea that it was a form of stuttering. Then two years ago, I was trying to find resources for a web site I was putting together and came across the National Suttering Association's web site. When I read their description of what stuttering is and particularly that PWS often try to hide their stutters, I almost fell off my chair! It was such a relief to find out that what I had really was a stutter -- a medically defined condition -- and that I wasn't alone. Then, I started to look at more stuttering-related web sites, came across the Stutteringchat e-mail group and joined. Ever since then, I've been very thankful to have access to people around the world who understand exactly what I'm going through.
BR: In your bio you mentioned wanting to help others who stutter. What things have you tried so far?
SBS: I'm afraid I haven't done nearly as much as I would like. I've written a book that demonstrates to the reader what it is like to stutter, and I'm in the (very long) process of trying to get it published. My hope is that if the general public can understand the affliction better, the many misconceptions associated with stuttering (e.g., dysfluency often connotes low intelligence, low self-esteem, etc.) will disappear, and perhaps we who stutter will not feel so much pressure to be fluent, which I think will make our lives a little easier. I know this is somewhat of a long shot, but I feel it's worth a try.
I hope the above answers your questions. If not, I'll gladly try again. I'll also be happy to answer any other questions you might have.
Best of luck with your graduate work. Your interest in stuttering is greatly appreciated.
Sophie