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From: Alan Badmington
Date: 22 Oct 2004
Time: 16:21:28 -0500
Remote Name: 81.77.88.136
Hi Hara, Thank you, so much, for your eloquent and insightful contribution to this discussion. I once knew a man who chose total silence in order to overcome his stutter. He even communicated with his wife by means of written notes. But, I suppose, it had its advantages because when they engaged in an argument, by the time he had composed his response, the heat had gone out of the situation ;-) I hope that no-one is offended by my little story - I tend to use humour a great deal when undertaking talks to community groups in an attempt to create greater public awareness about stuttering. The anecdotes relate to myself and appear to work very well. You are correct when you opine that stuttering is not just about blocks, hesitations and prolongations etc. In fact, it's not merely about the speech process. It involves so many more factors such as self-esteem; self-confidence; self-acceptance; beliefs; perceptions; emotions etc. If you wish to gain a better understanding of what I mean, you may wish to read a speech that I gave to the British Stammering Association (BSA) in 2001. Entitled, 'Stuttering is not just a speech problem', it can be found on the Stuttering Homepage at: http://www.mnsu.edu/comdis/kuster/Infostuttering/badmington.pdf Or on the BSA website at: http://www.stammer.demon.co.uk/conf2001_alanbadmington/ Having become totally desensitized to stuttering (as a result of my openness), I now revel in talking at every opportunity and I am doing things that were, hitherto, beyond my wildest dreams. If I am silent - it's because I'm sleeping ;-) It really is good to talk! May I wish you every success with your studies. Kindest regards Alan