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From: Alan Badmington
Date: 05 Oct 2004
Time: 08:25:40 -0500
Remote Name: 81.79.188.171
Hi Janet, Thank you, so much, for taking the time to comment on my poem. Those who know me will tell you that I frequently describe myself as a 'walking thesaurus' ;-) You see, until four years ago, I had great difficulty in using 13 letters of the alphabet. Yes!, half of the alphabet lay outside my scope. The result was that I gained an incredible expertise in word substitution. When a 'feared' word appeared on the horizon, I became so proficient that I could instantly provide 10 synonyms. My vocabulary grew immensely. I suppose the advantage was that I developed a useful writing skill. The written word was the only way in which I could properly convey my thoughts and ideas at work and elsewhere. Besides, it would have been a waste not to have used the vast array of words that I now had at my disposal ;-) I have written poetry throughout my life - principally of the humorous variety. However, from time to time I would compose something of a more serious nature. I have only fully appreciated the true implications of word substitution during recent years, and felt impelled to express them in the form of a poem. I'm proud of the fact that I have not substituted one word, letter or syllable for more than four years. It has made such an impact upon my speech. You may read more about the horrific problems that were caused by my inability to use half of the alphabet by reading my article, 'Stuttering is not just a speech problem'. It can be found at: http://www.mnsu.edu/comdis/kuster/Infostuttering/badmington.pdf or http://www.stammer.demon.co.uk/conf2001_alanbadmington/ Thank you, once again, for your interest. Kindest regards Alan