[ Contents | Next | Previous | Up ]
From: Chris Roach
Date: 10/21/01
Time: 9:46:15 PM
Remote Name: 64.12.102.181
Melissa, thanks for participating AND thanks for your kind comments. The lesson I've learned from covert stuttering is one that transcends into all of life. Whereas in my case, I appear to communicate effortlessly and with acceptable normalcy, there's an incredible beast of constant pressure, fear and anxiety that lives with me every waking minute (though I've been able to tame the beast more and more over the recent years -- but it doesn't go away). I can only imagine EVERY human being I encounter having some similar hidden "beast" that follows them every day, although they may appear normal, adjusted and confident in every way. We must never assume that every one of us isn't challenged daily by SOMETHING, and we must always be sympathetic to understand the power of that beast when it surfaces and shames that individual. By our immediate acceptance and absence of any judgement or false stereotyping of that individual at a time of need and crisis, we have the power to help them immediately diminish the shame they perceive through our kindness and acceptance -- just as we experience when individuals do the same for us with our stuttering.
Thanks again, Melissa, Best of luck with your studies.
Chris