kestrel
10-02-2005, 06:23 AM
:D Re: New Zealand Speak Easy Association.
Dear Mr Dabb
.
I'm a fifty-five(55) yr old married male, with a family. Two(2) daughters; one(1) married with two(2) sons, the other(youngest) still single,but in a relationship.
For my entire"speaking" life, I've been battling a modest to severe stammer; by enlarge on my own. I've tried most therapies & cures etc but, to no avail. All through life, I've suffered (severe) acute embarrassment, ridicule, laughter,word substitution(in which the entire meaning of what you are saying could be changed), being patronised, totally ignored, interrupted, looked down upon, discriminated against, regarded as being a"stuck up snob" for not joining in & not to mention being treated as an alien from outer space, mis-aligned, & of course, being lonely, & friendless in my case.
Do not get me wrong, I've heaps of acquaintances, workmates(all of which are, in my opinion, "snobs". As soon as they find out, or are told I can't talk, they go & talk amongst themselves). All in all a hard life in some respects when considering life's other trials & tribulations.
In my earlier life, twenties(20s)- thirties(30), I had passing thoughts of starting such an association as Speak Easy. Of course, nothing arose from them, as I forgot about it, & went on to do other things. I suppose one could say they were passing pipe dreams.
Just imagine my"delight & pleasure" when, after three(3) yrs of owning a computer, the idea of looking the subject up occurred to me & I found a whole lot of on-line support, here in my own country, & internationally.
It is now time to sail into friendlier waters, so to speak, & try once more to make some meaningful relationships. I've been starved of friends & must avoid over compensating. A pitfall, in my opinion.
Now that I have bored you to tears, with some of my background, it is time to come to the point of writing to you. I wish to join your organisation, in the hope of getting some long overdue support, training, etc, & putting back what I take out, if you get my drift.
There must be something somewhere in New Zealand, that would welcome me with open arms, surely.If I'm not on the right track with your organisation, I trust you will point me in the right direction.
Hope to hear from you soon, in the not so distant future.
Kindest Regards.
Drew.
That was written in 1/05.To bring you up to speed; the rest of the year has been pretty busy. In March, I attended an "Intensive Fluency Course" at S.T.A.R.T.(Auckland), followed by membership in NZSpeakeasy Assoc'. As luck would have it, their/our A.G.M/Conference Weekend was held in Takapuna Auckland.I met alot of people,witnessed an Oratory Comp'& learnt a great deal more about
this"curse".Dr Susan Block came over from Aussie especially for this event.I am a firm believer now that th most impartnt part of stuttering is indeed the emotional baggage & should be addressed as such.To that end,I have joined Toastmasters. My Icebreaker is scheduled for12/10, & with Int' Awarness Day; 22/10; it is more than appropiate that my speech is on Stuttering.All in all, it has been a miraculous year,with a 75% improvement in my speech. :D
Dear Mr Dabb
.
I'm a fifty-five(55) yr old married male, with a family. Two(2) daughters; one(1) married with two(2) sons, the other(youngest) still single,but in a relationship.
For my entire"speaking" life, I've been battling a modest to severe stammer; by enlarge on my own. I've tried most therapies & cures etc but, to no avail. All through life, I've suffered (severe) acute embarrassment, ridicule, laughter,word substitution(in which the entire meaning of what you are saying could be changed), being patronised, totally ignored, interrupted, looked down upon, discriminated against, regarded as being a"stuck up snob" for not joining in & not to mention being treated as an alien from outer space, mis-aligned, & of course, being lonely, & friendless in my case.
Do not get me wrong, I've heaps of acquaintances, workmates(all of which are, in my opinion, "snobs". As soon as they find out, or are told I can't talk, they go & talk amongst themselves). All in all a hard life in some respects when considering life's other trials & tribulations.
In my earlier life, twenties(20s)- thirties(30), I had passing thoughts of starting such an association as Speak Easy. Of course, nothing arose from them, as I forgot about it, & went on to do other things. I suppose one could say they were passing pipe dreams.
Just imagine my"delight & pleasure" when, after three(3) yrs of owning a computer, the idea of looking the subject up occurred to me & I found a whole lot of on-line support, here in my own country, & internationally.
It is now time to sail into friendlier waters, so to speak, & try once more to make some meaningful relationships. I've been starved of friends & must avoid over compensating. A pitfall, in my opinion.
Now that I have bored you to tears, with some of my background, it is time to come to the point of writing to you. I wish to join your organisation, in the hope of getting some long overdue support, training, etc, & putting back what I take out, if you get my drift.
There must be something somewhere in New Zealand, that would welcome me with open arms, surely.If I'm not on the right track with your organisation, I trust you will point me in the right direction.
Hope to hear from you soon, in the not so distant future.
Kindest Regards.
Drew.
That was written in 1/05.To bring you up to speed; the rest of the year has been pretty busy. In March, I attended an "Intensive Fluency Course" at S.T.A.R.T.(Auckland), followed by membership in NZSpeakeasy Assoc'. As luck would have it, their/our A.G.M/Conference Weekend was held in Takapuna Auckland.I met alot of people,witnessed an Oratory Comp'& learnt a great deal more about
this"curse".Dr Susan Block came over from Aussie especially for this event.I am a firm believer now that th most impartnt part of stuttering is indeed the emotional baggage & should be addressed as such.To that end,I have joined Toastmasters. My Icebreaker is scheduled for12/10, & with Int' Awarness Day; 22/10; it is more than appropiate that my speech is on Stuttering.All in all, it has been a miraculous year,with a 75% improvement in my speech. :D