In Response to Jodi's post On Stuttering

I completely agree with what Jodi says about stuttering. The way that Hoagland he wrote the piece really made me think about what he was going through because of the way he talked. I also agree that its interesting how he was able to speak without the stutter more successfully if he was fired up about something. As I read her post, it reminded my of a couple of people in my life who have a stutter when they speak. At time's it may be a little difficult to listen to them, but I really don't even notice it anymore. A history teacher I had in my junior year of high school had a stutter, and still managed to teach classes 5 times a day. We quickly grew accustomed to it, and I don't remember anyone making any comments to him or about him because of it, but I guess it never really occurred to me that he might be self-conscious about it. His job required him to expose his stutter to high school kids, who can be absolutely brutal. I realize now that to get up in front of his classes every day might have been a much tougher thing for him than I would have ever thought. Hoagland talks about how his stuttering influenced him to become a writer, so that he wouldn't be forced to speak as often. It made me almost feel proud of my history teacher because of what he overcomes every day in order to do what he loves.