[Next]
From: Gunars
Date: 10/11/00
Time: 10:05:58 PM
Remote Name: 12.13.226.15
Fred,
As an Eastern European, having been born in Latvia, and coming to United States at the age of thirteen, I have always thought of myself as coming from a different "culture". Having adjusted very quickly, I dismissed the different culture aspect almost out of hand, and wondered why people made such a big deal out of it. After reading your article, I have concluded that I came from the same middle class Germanic/Nordic culture and my only diversity was in the language that I spoke. Although I have had a number of friends from different races and nationalities, all of our families had assimilated in the dominant Germanic/Nordic Protestant culture. The only difference that separated us was our skin color, place of birth, language of birth, and our religion of birth.
Having said that, I have a few questions for you:
a) How does a stuttering therapist avoid making serious errors about cultures that one has not dreamed about?
b) Is there a handbook of cultures of the Appalachian, Inner City, American Indian, Japanese, Vietnamese, etc. cultural diversity? All of sudden I feel naked, incompetent, although I have played soccer on the same teams as almost all the nationalities of this world, the "soccer culture" which included a hearty mug of beer :-) unified us, and, thus, I was lulled into believing that I knew the different cultures and could navigate in their midst very easily.
c) Am I right in thinking that the only real way to get to know another culture and the pitfalls of certain behaviors during therapy sessions, is to get to know an adult person who has one foot in the culture of the client and another foot in the dominant culture of North America. And then pump him or her :-) of all the pertinent information by discussing the therapy model that you intend to practice.
Gunars