For many years, I was involved in community self-organizing on behalf of people who stutter. Years ago I formed a Toronto-based self-help group for people who stutter; our first meeting was held in September 1988 at the North York Library.
I’m fidgeting in my chair. The room is cold – not just the air – but also the room itself. I wait as the next speaker walks without haste to the front of the room. I’m at a work all-staff meeting, an annual event intended to have all of us sit together for a day to team-build.
When the speaker talks, I immediately notice the very slow deliberate tempo of his speech. Listening more intently, I start to pick out fluency techniques. He is good. No disfluency. “He is a fellow stutterer”, I think to myself. And smile.
Heather GrossmanHeather Grossman is the clinical director of the American Institute for Stuttering. She has worked for over 25 years as a speech pathologist for both children and adults. She recently gave a interview with Peter Reitzes of Stuttertalk and spoke about her career, working with people who stutter and the way speech therapy has changed over the decades.
As society evolves, equality, above all else, is a key factor. Topics once not talked about are now coming to the forefront and light is being shone where there once was darkness. In my career in social services I've seen society's view on minorities change, and I've seen acceptance in the communities of developmentally challenged individuals. We have come so far, yet we still have so far to go.
Joshua Patlik
Josh Patlik is a second year law student at York University in Toronto. He is also a person who stutters. Josh recently met with a class of SLP graduate students at the University of Toronto for a conversation about his experiences, his perspectives, and his life as a stutterer.
If you receive the disability tax credit you can apply for a government assisted savings plan.
For the longest time, I had a very real struggle. I knew and accepted that I stuttered. It was okay with me because it was a part of me, but not all of me. However, there was always something that nagged me. I hated being treated as different. All I wanted was to be seen as normal. I really disliked the word “stutterer”, even though that is what I am.