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From: Russ Hicks
Date: 06 Oct 2006
Time: 09:50:31 -0500
Remote Name: 71.252.204.114
Hi Jessica, ..... Thank you for your kind words. ..... With a gun to your head, it really doesn't mean you're brave. It means you don't have a CHOICE! By the time I did five or six speeches in Toastmasters, I really did get over my FEAR of public speaking (it absolutely DOES work that way!) so bravery really had little to do with it. But if it APPEARED that I was brave, and that appearance inspired people, hey, I'll take it! <grin> ..... In answer to your question about my stuttering being worse in my adolescent years, I think the answer to that is a simple yes. Our NSA chapter here in Dallas had a VERY interesting recent discussion on that exact point. We plotted anxiety about our speech and severity of our stuttering over time and it was extremely interesting how similar all of our charts were. It started out at a neutral point when we were very young and didn't even realize we were stuttering. Then it got worse in late childhood when we realized we were "different," and really bottomed out in our adolescent and early career days when we had to deal with the consequences of being "different." But then as we got older (those of us who HAD gotten considerably older!) the chart began to rise again as we were able to put our speech in perspective and realized that WE worried a LOT more about our speech than our listeners - who honestly couldn't have cared less. Then the older we got the curve continued to rise into the real comfort zone and we were able to help others with similar problems and actually be happy in our own skin. That's where I am now. ..... My camp experience with my stuttering proved unsuccessful primarily because it was in the 1950's and they didn't KNOW as much about therapy as we do today. The camp itself was really a wonderful experience - except for the fact that it didn't help my stuttering. I pretty much grew up there, and it was full of wonderful people and amazing "summer camp" experiences. However it was in the 1950's and people back then had no concept of the stuttering iceberg and the unbelievable impact that emotions can have on your speech. (See my paper on the stuttering iceberg at http://www.mnsu.edu/comdis/isad6/papers/hicks6.html .) It just never OCCURRED to anyone back then that you couldn't cure stuttering by focusing solely on the speech mechanics. I certainly don't blame them - they simply didn't know. ..... My age attending camp was a factor in the unsuccessful therapy? Hmmm... maybe but I rather doubt it. Knowing what we know TODAY, I would strongly recommend therapy at the earliest possible age when the bottom of the iceberg has not yet formed. Your job as a future SLP working with children who stutter is to keep that iceberg from forming. If you can do that, you'll be a success. Once that iceberg has formed, you'll face a whole new set of more complex problems. ..... I wish you the very best in school, Jessica. George Washington University is a wonderful school! I know you will do well there! ..... Russ