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From: Ken St. Louis
Date: 10/8/01
Time: 10:04:20 AM
Remote Name: 157.182.12.51
Dear Viren,
You have articulated the pain of so many who suffer from the mysterious condition we call stuttering. Aside from all of the negative aspects involved in speaking, people who stutter suffer from misunderstanding from their families, friends, and societies. Of course, we rarely want others to treat us as "verbal cripples." But we don't want them to treat us as if there is absolutely nothing wrong with us either. The middle ground is informed understanding. Societies have a long way to go before stuttering, as Bob Kroll has said, is considered just as a normal part of the human condition.
Together with a growing number of wonderful scientists, stutterers, and others, I have been involved in developing an public opinion survey that hopefully can be used to measure and track public attitudes toward stuttering. The project is called the "International Project on Attitudes Toward Stuttering." We hope that this survey might be able to assist those who are trying to change public attitudes to discover which strategies are most and least effective.
We have a long way to go before we have a survey that can be translated (and back translated) to assess public attitudes. And even when it is finished, it will not be of much help to individual stuttering people like you.
My suggestion is to keep doing what you did with your friend. Take upon yourself the task of educating others about stuttering, using all of the resources that are now available. Consider telling your story as well to whomever will listen. (Maybe you have seen the paper in this conference by Judy Kuster, Rae Jean Sielen, and me. It deals with the value of telling your story.)
Thanks for sharing your story with those who visit this on line conference.
With my best wishes,
Ken