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From: Lou Heite
Date: 09 Oct 2006
Time: 21:58:51 -0500
Remote Name: 24.237.249.158
Dear Katlyn, It is entirely possible that the person who wrote the letter did have other characteristics that were the actual cause of his job rejection. However, he perceived that his stuttering was the root of his problem. He articulated very well one kind of anguish that I have seen a number of times in my practice. It's not limited to young professionals trying to break into a crowded field, either. Last year I took on a youngster in the first grade, who told me that he was afraid that he would grow up to be a lonely old man because he stuttered. First graders don't get those ideas out of the air. Something had to give him reason to make the leap from stuttering kid to lonely old man. I suspect that that was partly a teasing sister, but not entirely. It is easy to pooh-pooh the letter writer's anguish and substantiate that with stories of people who reached their goals despite stuttering. Still, given that there are pervasive indications of a prejudice against stutterers that meets the criterion for oppression on the part of the majority, there is probably enough truth to his story to give us all pause. Lou Heite