Truth: The whole truth: a confession
I used to make myself vomit. I hated school. I feared saying my name, being called on and generally did not love learning. Who could want to learn when I couldn’t speak.
Saying my name was fearful. Running out of the room, going to the bathroom, faking a leg sprain were assorted excuses to get out of answering questions.
The desire in my heart not to struggle, to push myself at jobs to answer a phone despite stuttering helped me overcome. After all my dad did it despite stuttering. Then I could too. We did not have 504s for modifications. I just had to do presentations. Some were good. Some were shameful to me.
I called 411 (info) 50 times a week to say my name. I tried every therapy possible. I took risks. I talked about stuttering. I never gave up because the drive to talk without struggling was paramount in my mind.
Now
I see the fire in the adults eyes I work with. Today a 26 year old who I have known for years contacted me. Stuttering was starting to take over. We talked openly about his goals and developed a plan. He had hope and I understood his plight. It was a good day.
27You, Joy Watson Kling, Gail Nelson Weissman and 24 others
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