As students are heading back to school, one thing that comes up in therapy sessions is the opportunity this presents to advertise, or disclose that one stutters, to the class. Why advertise? What benefits might there be?
No doubt, it can be a scary and adrenaline-inducing thing to do! Here’s a recent email that I received from Shawn who decided it was something he felt he wanted to do and he challenged himself to go for it.
I advertised on Tuesday in my engineering class, which is important because that’s where I would do the most talking. I knew that I had to do it because if I didn’t I would be mad at myself all day. I did it, it was embarrassing. But today when I had the class again I was able to finally participate and carry out discussions in class, and I was probably 95% fluent. So now I’m glad that I did it.
Have you ever advertised to a class that you stutter? If not, would you consider doing it?
photo: kd5ytx
Related posts:
I self-advetised to my 4th graders this week. I am student teaching this semester. This was the first time I had advertised to a group of people, and the first time to students. This was probably only my 5th or 6th time self-advertising, so I am still very new to it.
Comment by Sarah — September 10, 2009 @ 6:58 pm
Hi Sarah, thanks for sharing. How did you feel after you advertised? Were the kids curious about stuttering or ask any questions?
Comment by Chamonix — September 11, 2009 @ 9:14 am
I’ve been advertising my stuttering for decades. It’s been the one technique that has helped me get through lots of business and personal interactions.
I’ve found it a great ice-breaker that creates an almost instant bond between myself and the people with whom I interact.
Comment by Jeff — September 11, 2009 @ 2:55 pm
Jeff, what do you do job-wise?
Comment by Chamonix — September 11, 2009 @ 8:44 pm
I feel like it went well. One question that the was asked was, “why do you stutter?” I said it is the same reason why someone has brown eyes, blond hair ect. You are just born that way and I was just born this way. This is just the way I talk and it’s a part of who I am. Ny cooperating teacher said that she thought it went very well.
Comment by Sarah — September 12, 2009 @ 8:43 am
What a valuable lesson for children to learn…..that we all have our differences and are made uniquely and that’s okay. You modeled being confident and okay with your difference and they now have that model to follow – a true teaching moment.
Comment by Chamonix — September 13, 2009 @ 9:56 pm
Thanks Chamonix! I just hope I protrayed confidence when I did the presentation. Thank you for your encouraging words they mean a lot!
Comment by Sarah — September 14, 2009 @ 7:02 pm
[...] of Stuttering to Others In a previous AIS Blog post, Chamonix shared that many of our past clients have chosen to self-disclose that they stutter to [...]
Pingback by Starting the school year on the right foot: Part 2 « American Institute for Stuttering — September 25, 2009 @ 4:52 pm