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From: Alan Badmington
Date: 12 Oct 2006
Time: 15:15:01 -0500
Remote Name: 84.71.2.22
Hi Amy, Thank you for taking the time to participate in the threaded discussion. Expanding comfort zones has played an important part in the progress that I have made during the past six years. Such expansion enabled me to challenge my fears and self-limiting beliefs; change my stuttering mindset; and attain considerable personal growth. Incidentally, I now facilitate workshops on that very subject for persons who stutter, and wrote the following paper for the ISAD Online Conference in 2003: 'STEP OUTSIDE: Why expanding comfort zones can improve our stuttering and lead to more fulfilling lives' - http://www.mnsu.edu/comdis/isad6/papers/badmington6.html You may wish to check it out by clicking on the above link. It also provided the theme for my keynote speech to the 2004 World Congress for PWS, in Australia. In answer to your question - I believe that technology is what we make of it. By that, I mean it depends upon the way in which it is used. Yes! - technology can become a crutch for a PWS, by fuelling avoidances. But there are times in our lives when such assistance can prove invaluable. Without it, some PWS would have considerable difficulty coping with the problems that life presents. If I had not acquired an Edinburgh Masker, my life would have been so much more limited. I would have struggled to meet the challenges that occurred while I was a serving police officer. I would not have developed my social/interpersonal skills to the extent that I did. And...I would, certainly, not have advanced to a position where I was able to gain rapid success from another approach that became available later in my life. With hindsight, I realise that I could have made a far greater effort to challenge my word substitution, during the period that I wore the Masker. However, I was ignorant of the implications of avoidance until May 2000. Immediately I gained an understanding that avoidance was actually strengthening my fears, I made a pact with myself that I would never again succumb to the temptation of substituting an 'easy' word for a 'difficult' one, and never shirk the challenge of any speaking situation. I have been true to myself since that date. You enquired, "Knowing what you now know about the Masker, would you still have used it?" The answer is, definitely, "YES". It allowed me to keep my head above water, when I could well have sunk without trace ;-) I wish you success with your studies. Kindest regards Alan