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From: Gunars
Date: 10/6/00
Time: 8:33:03 PM
Remote Name: 12.13.226.12
Ken et al,
Congratulations on doing a good job in researching the attitudes that people have about stuttering. I appreciated the effort that goes in a study as this. I still recall when my wife was doing her Ph.D. thesis in Social Welfare on chronic pain management. It was a real bear:-) and the statistics you used corresponds with what was taught at University of Washington 15 years a ago.(Not at all a simple thing to do.)
Let me digress for a moment. Many parents are concerned about helping to channel their kids in the choice of career. Since, diversity is the name of the game in most big companies, I think that a study of the Human Resource people's (HR) attitude toward stuttering is of utmost importance.
Boeing, the worlds greatest:-) and probably largest Aerospace Company is totally committed to diversity. Let me give a thumbnail sketch of what Boeing considers diversity:
a) Organizational Dimensions: union affiliation, work content/field, management status, seniority, etc.
b) External Dimensions: marital status, geographic location, work experience, income, educational background, religion/spirituality, appearance, personal habits, recreational habits, parental status, etc.
c) Internal Dimensions: ethnicity, race, gender, sexual orientation, physical ability, age, etc. HERE I would propose to add in vision (20/20?), hearing (need of hearing aid?, stuttering...
d) Personality (or if the stuttering is moderate or especially if it is mild it could be included here.
In Boeing's view Diversity is the best business decision. Period.
So the study of the Human Resource Personnel could be to ask them how they would judge a person who stutters as compared to a person of different race, religion, sexual orientation, etc. with respect to the desired traits of an employee:
a) Problem solving ability,
b) Communication ability,
c) Getting along with other employees,
d) Initiative,
e) Stick-to-itness, e.g. persistence,
f) Attention to detail,
g) Contentment with the job,
h) Ability to set priorities,
i) Optimism,
j) Credibility,
k) Maturity,
l) Leadership skills,
m) Commitment,
n) Honesty,
o) Risk taking ability,
p) Sense of proportion and humor,
q) Originality,
r) Enthusiasm, and
s) Ability to bounce back after a setback.
Ken, since you have a proven ability to organize a study of this sort and, probably, can again inspire students to help you out with the task, I would like to ask you to apply for a grant (maybe to National Science Foundation or Equal Employment Opportunity Office) to study the attitudes of Human Resource Personnel (or the people who come to the Campus to recruit students.)
Or is my enthusiasm getting away from me again? :-)
Gunars
Their major axis of defining are:
a) Organizational dimension : job classification, seniority, management status, work content/field, work location oraganization, and union application