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From: Gunars
Date: 10/6/00
Time: 12:52:07 PM
Remote Name: 12.13.226.15
Judy,
I agree with you whole heartedly. There are a number of parents who, in my experience, a) do black and white thinking about stuttering (either a child is perfect speaker or not, instead that stuttering therapy can lead to management of stuttering and not necessarily a "cure") and b) overgeneralization, because a child may experience some rejection or difficulty in communication due to stuttering, stuttering must doom the "tyke" to a miserable life experience, instead of understanding that stuttering is only one of the many areas of a childs (and for that matter, adults) life. And from my own experience I know how obsessed a child can get with his "inadequacy", his thoughts of "If I don't cure myself of stuttering, I will be no damn good."
I wish that during my childhood somebody would have placed stuttering in the proper context, de-awfulized it, de-devilified it, and have given me hope that I can lead a full productive life all the while as I learn to manage my attitudes about stuttering, my forcing and my struggling with my speech.
I thank you in behalf of the children whose parents may have to be taught to handle the problem of stuttering and the child's psyche in an accepting, non-demanding way.
Gunars