[ Contents | Next | Previous | Up ]
From: Jaan Pill
Date: 10/8/01
Time: 2:13:20 PM
Remote Name: 134.29.30.79
Question No. 2 -- Joseph Lukong asked:
I know you mustt have met at least one therapist in yur life with some good reqults. What advise can you give to stutterers who have never and might never meet one?
Answer from Jaan Pill:
I think a good way to start is to read materials from the Stuttering Foundation of America. The email address is stutter@vantek.net
Given that the Speak Clear Association of Cameroon is already in touch with Stefan Hoffmann, chair of the ISA outreach working group, I would recommend that you ask him what the best way might be to arrange for the sending, to Cameroon, of suitable written materials from the Stuttering Foundation of America. Some of the materials are available in languages other than English.
There is a lot of other information available (for example, on the websites of the national associations that belong to ISA, as well as on the ISA website). It’s worthwhile to speak to many people, and to read widely.
It’s also worthwhile to note that many associations, and the ISA itself, seek to offer an open, impartial forum for the sharing of information, rather than saying that this therapy, or that therapy, or no therapy at all, is the best way to deal with stuttering. Each person needs to find the way that works for them, and that requires persistence and the desire to keep on asking questions, as you are doing.
I would add that I have met a number of people over the years who have benefited tremendously from spending some time as a member of a self-help group for people who stutter. They have learned a lot from other people who stutter. For example, they have learned how important it is to be open about being a person who stutters, instead of hiding it.
I have also met many people who have benefited from attending national and international conferences for people who stutter. A person might not stutter less, as a result of attending such events, but it’s very likely that they will look at stuttering in a new way. Also, a person can learn a lot about different therapy programs.
Meeting other people who stutter helps us to know we are not alone. It can also be a first step in a journey that leads to success (however a person might define success) in dealing with stuttering.
I very much hope that some people who stutter from Cameroon will be attending the next World Congress of People Who Stutter, which will be held in Australia in 2004. The person to contact, with regard to the possibility of getting help, if it’s required (and if help can be arranged), to make a journey to Australia to attend the next World Congress, is Stefan Hoffmann.
I would add that a key ingredient, in my own success in finding a team of therapists who could help me (in Edmonton in 1987) was based very much on my desire to get some help. At first I did not succeed, but I kept on looking. I finally learned about the program that helped me (the one in Edmonton) by reading a newspaper article, in May 1987.
Really, our long term goal is to ensure that help is available for every person who stutters, and especially help at the best possible time to offer such help, which in most cases is at the age of two-and-a-half years.
This is the goal. It will take many generations to achieve it. The work has begun. It is work that we are all doing together, with each generation building upon the work that has been done by previous generations.
The Internet and technical advances (such as video conferencing, by way of example), offer some hope as well. Email itself is a step in the right direction, when it comes to the process of finding out what other people have learned about how to deal with stuttering. In so many ways, and on so many levels, there is so much that we can learn from each other.