TRANSCENDING STUTTERING

There is a video called, "Transcending Stuttering," produced and directed by Dr. Phil Schneider (professor of speech language pathology). In Transcending Stuttering, seven people who stutter tell their story of living with stuttering throughout their lives; it is a powerful and emotionally charging testimony and I urge and encourage every stutterer to watch the video. The video was also shown an PBS. I met Dr. Schneider at Brooklyn College secondary to my stuttering support group inviting him as a guest speaker. Dr. Schneider, is not a stutterer himself but has counselled and treated many stutterers over the years; he really has a genuine concern in making a difference in the lives of people who stutter.

I first watched the video (Transcending Stuttering) in my 3rd year of medical school. I was feeling very depressed after giving a public presentation during one of my medical school "Morning Report," presentation at the hospital (Tulsa Regional Medical Center now called Oklahoma State University Medical Center). I had to present a topic infront of Attending Physicians, Residents, Medical Students and other health care professionals. I had so much stutter that manifested itself in the form of "blocks." Although it wasn't funny at the time in retrospect, a friend of mine said, "Mike I guess with all that many "blocks," you could have built a house!" The presentation was suppose to be a 7 minute presentation and it ended up being about 20 minutes long. I wanted to quit medicine; I felt like a total idiot. Nevertheless, I was encouraged by an attending physician called Dr. Randall Reust (who happened to be the coordinator of the core rotations at Tulsa Regional Medical Center for the medical students).

I went home that day and was browsing through the internet for anything about stuttering that would encourage me; that is when I first encountered "Transcending Stuttering." It blessed me so much that day and let me realized that I am not alone in the emotional pain that stuttering often generate. I hope that the video ("Transcending Stuttering") will bless you too as you watch it. Here is the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zi4y8Wg01fU

In case that does not work, just go to youtube and type in Transcending Stuttering.