Schwartz's Stuttering Police

[ Contents | Next | Previous | Up ]


Re: Memories

From: Judy Kuster
Date: 10/12/03
Time: 7:35:23 AM
Remote Name: 65.29.28.137

Comments

Elizabeth makes a good point about these assignments also being a "teachable moment" for the public and an interesting dilemma for this instructor on how to have it both ways;-) I want my students to walk away with the feeling a person who stutters must live with every day, not one that provides them the opportunity to explain "This isn't really me. I don't stutter. It was just an assignment so don't think of me as one who has trouble talking."

However, I also have a stack of "How to talk to a person who stutters" brochures and information from both the SFA and NSA in my office. Students are given the opportunity to use those materials and return to where they experienced a "bad" reaction to educate. Several students have done that with very positive reactions. After a student had returned to talk to the manager of a large department store in town, he actually called me for additional information and brochures and had a staff training on how to interact with people who stutter. An office in town now has a poster about stuttering hanging in it because another student returned to educate the individual. A manager at a pizza delivery establishment in Mankato talked with all her employees about taking orders from a person who stutters after yet another student returned. There are other examples as well. Maybe I missed providing that opportunity with Elizabeth's class. I shouldn't have.

But over the years I'm finding that more and more my students are reporting fewer and fewer "bad" experiences in Mankato. Have you noticed that in your community as well, Howard? I wonder if it has anything to do with the community being exposed to stuttering (even pseudo stuttering) and learning to be more sensitive listeners.

Judy Kuster


Last changed: September 12, 2005