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Like most individuals who stutter, I went to bed each night praying that I would wake up fluent. I awoke each day only to discover that my stuttering was still a reality. After several years of half-hearted attempts at speech therapy, I gave up. Discouraged, despondent, and depressed I contemplated suicide, as well as becoming a monk in a religious order that required a vow of silence. |
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I did neither. Instead, I limped along for a few years and somehow, by carefully selecting courses which required little or no oral participation, graduated from college. Feeling more comfortable in classes within the Speech-Language Pathology curriculum, I decided to pursue a master's degree in that field. During my graduate training, two fluency clients I was assigned to treat complained to the program director that my stuttering was worse than theirs. The director required me to see a speech-language pathologist myself, and it was then that I met a clinician that listened to me when I discussed my dream of becoming perfectly fluent. He offered me no promises and gave me no guarantees. But his patient yet confident manner persuaded me to give therapy one more try. His honest, reassuring, and sincere responses to my questions rekindled my hope for success which had been buried deep within me for so long. I share my story with you so that you know that I understand what you or a loved one has gone through facing speech impairment challenges. I can also empathize with those of you who must give public speeches and are either scared by thought of it or find yourselves less than adequate. My private practice specializes in helping individuals who are afflicted by these conditions. |
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