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From: Gerrie Nachman
Date: 17 Oct 2004
Time: 15:30:58 -0500
Remote Name: 69.22.228.203
My son, David, has stuttered since he first began talking, and was diagnosed as a person who stutters when he was three years old. David, is 17 now and is an original member of the Our Time Theatre Company. He is young man who is strong, confident, able to speak his own mind. As a parent of a child who stutters, I would say that it is incredibly important for parents to introduce your child to other people who stutter, even if you are not lucky enough to have an "Our Time" in your area. I think that the Friends Organization, and the amazing warmth and devotion of Lee Cagianno, really helped David, and more importantly, my husband and me, feel part of a community that was made up of wonderful, accomplished people, who just happened to stutter. My advice then, to parents of children who stutter is to become acquainted with Friends (and their local chapters), and to get to know the wonderful people who are in the NSA (National Stuttering Association). Having attended the NSA annual convention for the first time this year, I know it is a place where parents can meet other parents who have faced and answered some of the very same questions, and have done so with humor and compassion. Both NSA and Friends are communities with wonderful, loving and caring people. And, when a child who stutters sees other people who are strong, and poised and stutter, wonderful things can happen. Which is part of the reason Our Time is so very special. Lastly, I would say that I truly believe that my son has benefited (and they may be mysterious at times) from being a person who stutters. It is hard to explain, but deep in my heart I know that David is a stronger and richer person than he might otherwise be. So, when parents learn that their child stutters I would challenge them to consider an ancient Chinese saying, "Good news, bad news, who knows."