Sliderman3000
02-27-2011, 10:13 PM
I was interviewing for a job my senior year of college. It was helpful that the career placement office brought in companies to interview on campus. The main problem was that I didn’t have the appropriate attire. Sure, I wore nice clothes. However, my style was obviously not attractive, it screamed stuttering fool. But since my closet offered no alternatives, I gathered up all the things that was me and walked into the interview room.
This was not my first interview and I had learned a few things. It was best to shake hands before trying to say my name. That way, I didn’t squeeze the interviewers hand too tight. One thing I didn’t learn until much later was that I didn’t need to engage all the muscles in my face to say my name. This particular interview was Martin Marietta (later to be Lockheed Martin) and I remember it clearly. It didn’t go well. He was kind and offered me the best of luck but did not offer me a job. The “best of luck” thing was a little too sincere. It seemed like he was saying that I was really going to need it.
I graduated jobless. My college was one of the most challenging engineering schools in the country and there was a voice growing louder in my head that told me the last four grueling years were for nothing.
I borrowed $1400 from my parents and decided to try speech therapy again. This was a week long intensive program that taught prolongations and related fluency shaping methods. It was the first good advice I had received in my entire life. And it worked. Not that I was cured. The thing that worked was that I now had some tools that set me on a constructive path. I attacked stuttering like my life depended on it. I conquered low stress situations and then progressively used my new techniques in harder situations. There were set backs and some times I had to regain the ground I thought I had “owned”. It was a battle. Phone calls were recorded and analyzed later. Phone call number 12,048 was a breakthrough. I laughed and joked around with some guy behind the counter at a liquor store. I played this back and laughed until I cried. I understood for the first that this was not really a life or death struggle. Speaking was not unsafe. I owned enough territory now that I could get around in life. My speech continued to get better.
Lockheed Martin has been my employer for 27 years now. In the early days, I worked on the Space Shuttle. One day my boss informed me that I would be in charge of implementing flight rules during an upcoming flight. My position would be on console at Mission Control in the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. I had always told myself that Lockheed Martin might stop me from going places due to my stuttering but I was not going to stop myself. My speech was improving over time, however, this assignment was pushing my limits. I was somewhat relieved when our group lead over ruled my supervisor and said that I couldn’t do that job. He cited safety considerations of manned space flight. That reprieve was short lived when the Program Manager over ruled everyone and stated that, “John can do it”. And I did.
I wrote this story in response to a stuttering forum article that asked what occupations are good for people that stutter. My response is that you can do anything you want. Don’t let stuttering make life choices for you.
It is important to find good therapy. Children can be helped (my son was helped) but a more mature person may have the dedication to make therapy payoff to a higher degree. Second, don’t view each speaking situation to be “survived”. Instead, each situation is a learning experience. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose but in the long run you are building toward success and getting better each day.
This was not my first interview and I had learned a few things. It was best to shake hands before trying to say my name. That way, I didn’t squeeze the interviewers hand too tight. One thing I didn’t learn until much later was that I didn’t need to engage all the muscles in my face to say my name. This particular interview was Martin Marietta (later to be Lockheed Martin) and I remember it clearly. It didn’t go well. He was kind and offered me the best of luck but did not offer me a job. The “best of luck” thing was a little too sincere. It seemed like he was saying that I was really going to need it.
I graduated jobless. My college was one of the most challenging engineering schools in the country and there was a voice growing louder in my head that told me the last four grueling years were for nothing.
I borrowed $1400 from my parents and decided to try speech therapy again. This was a week long intensive program that taught prolongations and related fluency shaping methods. It was the first good advice I had received in my entire life. And it worked. Not that I was cured. The thing that worked was that I now had some tools that set me on a constructive path. I attacked stuttering like my life depended on it. I conquered low stress situations and then progressively used my new techniques in harder situations. There were set backs and some times I had to regain the ground I thought I had “owned”. It was a battle. Phone calls were recorded and analyzed later. Phone call number 12,048 was a breakthrough. I laughed and joked around with some guy behind the counter at a liquor store. I played this back and laughed until I cried. I understood for the first that this was not really a life or death struggle. Speaking was not unsafe. I owned enough territory now that I could get around in life. My speech continued to get better.
Lockheed Martin has been my employer for 27 years now. In the early days, I worked on the Space Shuttle. One day my boss informed me that I would be in charge of implementing flight rules during an upcoming flight. My position would be on console at Mission Control in the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. I had always told myself that Lockheed Martin might stop me from going places due to my stuttering but I was not going to stop myself. My speech was improving over time, however, this assignment was pushing my limits. I was somewhat relieved when our group lead over ruled my supervisor and said that I couldn’t do that job. He cited safety considerations of manned space flight. That reprieve was short lived when the Program Manager over ruled everyone and stated that, “John can do it”. And I did.
I wrote this story in response to a stuttering forum article that asked what occupations are good for people that stutter. My response is that you can do anything you want. Don’t let stuttering make life choices for you.
It is important to find good therapy. Children can be helped (my son was helped) but a more mature person may have the dedication to make therapy payoff to a higher degree. Second, don’t view each speaking situation to be “survived”. Instead, each situation is a learning experience. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose but in the long run you are building toward success and getting better each day.