Which brings me to an interesting point. Over the past few years I have interacted with many people, some of whom have mocked me because I have a difficult time speaking in a fluid manner. Generally, the mocking exists as a simple laugh. In rare cases, like the one last night the individual actually mimics my dysfluency. In this case it was a t-t-t. Anyway, the point of this is that the majority of individuals who mock me to my face were young women. I have no doubt that my age (and possibly gender) influence their likelihood to mock (if I were much older than they I expect they would defer to the culturally expected norm to 'respect your elder', as for my gender, I don't know if I would be mocked more or less if I were female).
Anyway, I have decided that I am enacting a Zero-Tolerance policy when it comes to people mocking my stutter. If I am laughed at while ordering coffee (or anything else) I will ask the attendant what is so funny - because apparently what they find funny is synonymous with what I find terribly frustrating. And asking them what's funny about stuttering may put them in their place, and allows me to be more open about my speech disorder. And it would give me an opportunity to educate my fellow humans about speech disorders, specifically stuttering. Furthermore, as a future speech-language pathologist it is my responsibility to increase awareness about speech disorders. The attendants that mock me will hopefully not mock another individual who stutters, thus, making the world a more friendly place for my prospective clients.
Anyway, I'm done ranting now.
5 comments:
Sorry about that, I messed up whose account I was logged into on Google.
Anyway, I just wanted to make sure I could still mock you. I'm your big brother after all.
:)
Your new Zero-Tolerance policy is a great idea. People who feel that this type of behavior is appropriate deserved to have their elitist, discriminatory ideas confronted and put to shame. The louder and more embarrassing you can make this confrontation the better.
I think one thing you don't realize is that a lot of girls feel comfortible mocking you because you are so friendly. Maybe you should be meaner and smile less and then people would maybe think twice about mocking you.
Another thing to think about though, some people won't change, no matter what you do. It doesn't happen any more, but I received my fair share of mocking for being bald growing up. In some cases you just have to take it and realize that they will never really reach the level of maturity that says "It's not ok to say those things..."
Oh, I'm not worried. And it doesn't bother that much. I know I will not change everyone - I may not even change anyone. And as far as being too nice - for the most part these interactions are our first. They would not have had an opportunity to know that I am nice. Granted, I do have a "nice-guy-look" and that plays into it, I'm sure. I should shave my head get a henna tattoo and see how things differ from one look to the next.
Post a Comment