Help For Stuttering

For people who have fluent speech, it is hard to imagine what it
must be like for people who stutter
Going through life with a speech impediment is quite difficult,
and at times the stutterer would appreciate a little more
compasion
After overcoming a stutter myself, I asked some of my friends,
how they thought life was like, having a severe stutter I had
quite a few different responses, some of which annoyed me
Jim said:
“I always thought that you felt a bit sorry for yourself and you
made out that your stutter was some huge disasterous problem
It’s not like you couldn’t talk at all, is it?
I also felt at times that you lacked courage, for example always
asking Tony to order your drinks for you”
Paul then gave his opinion:
“I found it quite funny that at times you would be talking
really well, but within a few minutes you couldn’t get a word
out”
Ashley joined in:
“I felt a bit sorry for you, seeing you struggle, was quite
painful to watch”- This was a better comment!
Nigel, another friend:
“I am glad that I don’t stutter, but what I think you needed to
understand was that you were not the only one with issues and
problems I am extremely impressed that you have managed to
overcome it though”
I was annoyed mostly by the comments from Jim, and responded:
“So you think to have a stutter is not that bad then Jim? OK, I
challenge you to go up to the bar and order a pint of lager, but
when you order it I want you to stutter on some of the words”
I showed him how I wanted him to say the order, when to stutter
etc I then said:
“After you have stuttered on the words, I want you to see how it
feels and to experience the way people look at you You may then
understand a little bit more of what I went through”
Jim declined this challenge, even after a severe amount of
prompting and teasing from different members of our group
Having a stutter is not nice and when someone who has a stutter
seeks help, please offer them your full support
Stephen Hill

Tags | ashley, bit, courage, drinks, fluent, impediment, lager, minutes, pint, result, speech, stutter, stutterer