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From: Beth Bienvenu
Date: 03 Oct 2006
Time: 22:27:28 -0500
Remote Name: 68.94.136.118
Thanks for posting. Yes, a positive attitude is crucial, as is confidence. I had originally planned to write this article about my personal journey to where I am today and then link that to what I’ve learned in my job about employment, but the article ended up being way too long and was more like two separate articles. To recap the omitted part, I limited myself in terms of what I thought I could do. I dropped out of my first PhD program and stayed in several dead-end, underpaid jobs longer than I should have. I thought I was holding myself back because I feared my speech would negatively impact my work, but when I took some time to dig deeper into the basis of my fears, I realized that I actually feared other things – failing, getting in over my head, not living up to expectations. Once I realized that my fears went beyond my speech, I was able to address the real problem. At that point I was able to focus on what I really wanted, and what I could really do professionally. Participating in the National Stuttering Association and attending conferences and chapter meetings, I learned from my fellow stutterers that my stuttering shouldn’t affect my ability to do a good job, that I can communicate just as effectively as anyone else. Once I made these realizations, I was finally able to truly comfortable with my speech. It doesn’t mean that I’m not finished (after all, I still have a lot of covert behaviors that I can seem to shake), but I’m in a good place, personally and professionally, and I think that it shows in my work.