Don't Be Ashamed

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Shame

From: Judith Richards
Date: 12 Oct 2004
Time: 22:12:25 -0500
Remote Name: 66.188.9.191

Comments

Hi Marty, Loved the article! I am doing my master’s in speech language pathology and am currently taking a stuttering course. One of our projects was to go out and pseudo-stutter on 3 different occasions to make us more aware of what PWS deal with every day. I approached the task thinking it wouldn’t be too bad. But by the second or third attempt, I was terrified! Because by that time, I had learned the shame of stuttering through the responses of the people I spoke to. I anticipated shame, rejection, fear and all those other emotions tied up in stuttering. I learned shame from everyone I met, from the way they turned away from me, avoided eye contact, and cut me off while I tried to speak. It was an experience that will stay with me forever. I think by raising awareness of stuttering (what it is and what it is not), we can reduce some of the fear, hostility and overall negativity that many people feel when they meet a PWS. In my son’s elementary school in Michigan, a group of parent volunteers runs a wonderful annual program called “Everybody Counts.” The program’s objective is to raise awareness of the different cognitive, physical and learning impairments that children may have. The message of the program is that we are all different in many ways (appearance, physical abilities, the way we think and speak) and yet there are some ways that we are all the same. Namely, we all want to have friends, we all want to be liked and respected and no matter how different a person seems, it is important to treat them as a person. Each grade learns what it might be like to have a particular difficulty (e.g., visual difficulties, hearing difficulties, learning difficulties) and in this way the conditions become demystified and the children learn to understand and accept others who are different. Communication disorders are not part of this program, but I think they have an important place in it. Have you ever heard of any programs/groups within schools that raise awareness of stuttering? What do you think of the idea? PS. I read your book and think it will be one of my most useful resources for treating PWS.


Last changed: 09/12/05