The Gift of Stuttering

[Thomkatt]

Don't think I am at the point where I can say that stuttering is a gift but think that I am getting closer and closer to that point. Cause when I really think about it, I can't really find anything wrong with it other than what other people might think about it. Don't know that I would really want to give the gift to a family member though.

[MontanaLoft]

If it's a gift, it's not a good gift. Kind of like socks and underwear for xmas.

[Lenny]

look, if you start to think that it is a gift and your speech improves, then it makes sense to see it as a gift

otherwise it is the farthest thing from a gift and the mere fact that you wouldn't give it to a family member makes me think you don't see it as a gift.

although I would have expected you to say "to a friend"....

[Hyleck]

There is something wrong with stuttering if it affects you in a negative fashion.
From previous, firsthand experiences, the person that has the true problem with stuttering is yourself. Other people usually have limited knowledge when it comes to stuttering. Many people are sympathetic but may laugh or react in some way simply because they do not know how else to behave. If you come off as embarrassed your listener will feel that and react accordingly.

You do not say in what ways stuttering is a gift.

I can tell you firsthand that stuttering has caused me to become VERY empathetic towards others who stutter as well as sympathetic towards others with disabilities. I am a late onset stutterer and have seen my perceptions of stutterers and people with their own problems change dramatically. That is the only way I can think of stuttering as a gift. Stuttering for the most part is an emotionally damaging and life altering problem. People can grasp at straws to put it in a better light, but it is awful. I have never felt so low and felt as much pain as I have as a stutterer.

Of course you wouldn't want to give this "gift" to a family member. It is shit. I came across an article where a blind man with a stutter was asked which disability he hated more. Can you guess what he said? The stutter. He said that people don't tell him to slow down, spit it out and they also do not think as lightly as of being blind as they do of a stutterer. Most people are uneducated when it comes to stuttering, uneducated in general actually, and cannot put themselves in our shoes but they know instantly how bad it would be to be blind. Stuttering is a mystery to the average person.

[juancho]

If it's a gift, it's not a good gift. Kind of like socks and underwear for xmas.

lol, nice one.:D

Thomkatt, i like your possitive point of vieW, however I believe stuttering also affect Us... I mean, it difficults our everyday living, from simple activities like ordering food or talking on the phone, to more challenging stuff like doing oral presentations.

However, I believe that stuttering has somewhat molded my personality. It has made me a little introvert, but I like to think it has made me a better person.:cool:

Peace out,
Juan

[Fredrick]

hey let me give you my stuttering as a gift and I will go forward and be empathetic....

[Thomkatt]

Well, stuttering certainly makes one sooner or later have to live with more integrity than a non-stutterer.

[Lenny]

actually that was an interesting response on your part, why does a stutterer have to eventually live with more integrity?

[Fredrick]

Well, stuttering certainly makes one sooner or later have to live with more integrity than a non-stutterer.

i could see how a person who stutters gets real angry about his handicap and starts to cheat and hurt other people or other things of non-integrity.

do people of integrity always wear macho tee shirts?

[TheMan56]

Who are you trying to fool?.

[Miko]

that was what my psychologist tried to tell me - think about it as a gift, something given for a reason.

i have to say i was very selfish in my fluent times (until 12) and spoiled too. stuttering helped me to become more observative instead of manipulative.

BUT, i noticed recently that altough i am very empathetic towards others with a visible disability, I tend to get nervous when helping someone who looks "normal", but has a problem in his life. i am thinking to myself - i have to deal with my stuttering the whole life, so just all help ME, i am the one who suffers.

i have been trying to get rid of this attitude because it stinks!

[Thomkatt]

Are you hitting on me?

[Lenny]

that was what my psychologist tried to tell me - think about it as a gift, something given for a reason.

i have to say i was very selfish in my fluent times (until 12) and spoiled too. stuttering helped me to become more observative instead of manipulative.

BUT, i noticed recently that altough i am very empathetic towards others with a visible disability, I tend to get nervous when helping someone who looks "normal", but has a problem in his life. i am thinking to myself - i have to deal with my stuttering the whole life, so just all help ME, i am the one who suffers.

i have been trying to get rid of this attitude because it stinks!

your psychologist sounded incompetent and he couldn't help you and could not admit to it!!! i would have not paid him and taken him to court, the sick . I mean anyone could say that, right?????!!!!

you get nervous when you help others who are not disabled because you feel they are superior to you right?

you are right, you are suffering, use that to motivate yourself to go to a program like hollins where you may have a chance to not stutter, work hard and love yourself in that way and you probably will experience success. :)

[Miko]

Thanks for help. :-)

What is this Hollins program??

[Steven]

Are you hitting on me?

you make these kind of comments a lot.

are you or just afraid you might be ?

why do you present this macho picture of yourself in the tee shirt?

think this over a long time it might help you and your speech

[Thomkatt]

Steven, I am not homophobic and believe in complete and total humun right for s and s. This are you question does not scare me because I know that there is nothing wrong with being our so don't insult me. If my picture bothers you then who has the problem? My speech is going well and thanks for your concern.

[Thomkatt]

Oh yeah Steven, I don't need a new boyfriend right now but don't worry, you'll meet someone special soon sweetie.

[Steven]

Oh yeah Steven, I don't need a new boyfriend right now but don't worry, you'll meet someone special soon sweetie.

See Thomkatt how you had to follow up after your first answer and MAKE SURE that you had to PROVE you were not by insinuating that I was and looking for a boyfriend????!!!!

Gosh, from your first answer, I thought you were not even though you seemed to strangely have a need to explain your support for s, now you come right back and DO THE SAME THING that made me think you were in the first place!!

You know, I knew of one guy who stuttered until he admitted he was and then his speech improved greately.

[TheMan56]

Stupid stupid post. Stuttering isn't even close to being a gift. Whatever makes you sleep at night.

[edmealing]

Don't think I am at the point where I can say that stuttering is a gift but think that I am getting closer and closer to that point. Cause when I really think about it, I can't really find anything wrong with it other than what other people might think about it. Don't know that I would really want to give the gift to a family member though.

Although it`s not a gift. I find as someone whose stutter has eased with time that stutterers tend to generally be less outgoing and more interested in lone activities like reading or solo sports rather than team sports usually depending on how bad there stutter is.
If you are lacking in one ability you usually compensate for it with an other. I think I was always good at crosswords as my vocabulary was larger because I was always switching words to avoid stuttering. However being good at crosswords is no compensation for not being able to express yourself fluently.

[Benhoor]

If it helps reducing the pressures and sufferings, yeah think of it as a gift!

[amey]

See Thomkatt how you had to follow up after your first answer and MAKE SURE that you had to PROVE you were not by insinuating that I was and looking for a boyfriend????!!!!

Gosh, from your first answer, I thought you were not even though you seemed to strangely have a need to explain your support for s, now you come right back and DO THE SAME THING that made me think you were in the first place!!

You know, I knew of one guy who stuttered until he admitted he was and then his speech improved greately.

Your responses say EVERYTHING about YOU and actually NOTHING about the person you are attempting to criticize, bitter one.

[amey]

anything positive written about stuttering is going to be shot down by a group of people on this site. These people are in a very different, angry, place concerning their speech. they literally cant comprehend how a stutterer can have peace and happiness .They are stuck in a mind set of synicism and defeat. They are still blaming their parents for their stuttering.-- This nice thread, so quickly, turned into a personal bashing for the person who posted the thread. Contain your bitterness and TRY to be happy.

[Bruce]

anything positive written about stuttering is going to be shot down by a group of people on this site. These people are in a very different, angry, place concerning their speech. they literally cant comprehend how a stutterer can have peace and happiness .They are stuck in a mind set of synicism and defeat. They are still blaming their parents for their stuttering.-- This nice thread, so quickly, turned into a personal bashing for the person who posted the thread. Contain your bitterness and TRY to be happy.

But amey you look angry and unhappy in your new photo why is that???

[Steven]

Your responses say EVERYTHING about YOU and actually NOTHING about the person you are attempting to criticize, bitter one.

but why don't you criticize thomkatt for what he said?

uh, are you Amey if so what a waste!