I recently went to see the film The King’s Speech.  This film is about King George VI and how he dealt with his stutter.  He lived with this disability all his life.  In early years he was tormented by his classmates and his own family.  His mother and father were extremely hard on him thinking that taking a firm approach would help him get over it. 

George became king when his brother abdicated the throne to marry Wallace Simpson.  George was second in line for the throne and never thought he would be king.  He was now faced with giving public speeches as one of many duties.  His first speech, delivered before while he was still a prince, was disastrous so George began working with a speech therapist.  Eventually over time he was able to talk with only a slight stutter.

This film is very personal for me as I have stuttered all my life.  As the King said, I don’t know what it is like not to stutter.  Stuttering is a disability that you can not see and you wouldn’t know a person does unless you spoke to them.  It has been hard at times.  Growing up different from the other children I was teased a lot and at one point I quit talking; my school records had me listed as being mildly retarded.  I developed signs of depression in the seventh grade and this did not help my self esteem and made my depression even worse.  I would do anything to get out of talking and one of them was not going to school.  Eventually, I did make it through school and into the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

While as a child I saw several speech therapists, it wasn’t until I was at UW Madison that I received intensive therapy.  The university had a speech and language department with speech and language as a major.  I spent up to three times a week for three years of speech therapy. 

Over the years I have had good and bad periods of speech.  It was difficult for me to find work after graduating college.  Most of my positions were through taking a civil service test, knowing someone within the company or through a temporary agency where I was sent to an assignment.  There most clients would choose me based on my resume not on the bases of an interview.  I was able to prove myself and my ability to do the job well and the client would over look the fact that I had this disability.

Three years ago my depression became so bad that I had to leave my job.  My speech had become worse and in my position, I was having to deal with outside clients by phone more and more.  Shortly after that, I found Vail Place through a therapist I was seeing for my depression.  I have found Vail Place and the people there to be a sort of a safe haven.  I am not judged on whether or not I stutter, but as a person.  When I first started at Vail Place I would work in the clerical unit doing the tasks and special projects of the day.  Now I still work in the clerical unit along with doing statistical  projects for the clubhouse and I have also been an editor of the newsletter off and on for the past two years.  I still stutter but as a very good friend who I made at Vail Place has said, “I may have this disability, but the disability doesn’t have me any more”