Fluency Hysteria

Hey Ya!

Few days ago, I read a wonderful blog post titled “Overcoming Stuttering” by my friend, Pam Mertz (@stutterrockstar). It’s a good analysis on how kids and teens could be programmed by the “I-overcame-my-stuttering” hogwash of the “media-made” famous people. And, I couldn’t disagree. It’s not only about kids & adolescence, even many adult stutterers fall prey for these kinda stuffs.

See, I don’t have any vendetta against the famous people whether they are stutterers or not. I admire them for their triumphs and victories. They motivate and inspire us to achieve against insurmountable odds; which is brilliant. But when it comes to “fluent speech”, is it possible? How many of the stutterers know that “fluent speech” is really a wrong goal and there is no scientific evidence to make it possible. It’s like climbing the ladder when it is actually leaning on the wrong wall. On the other hand, when fluent speech is the norm, the minds of stutterers undergo lots of pain and agony in regards with their speech. They automatically start to buy in to these kinds of false-hopes of fluent speech. And, it’s understandable.

How much ever I criticize the “fluent speech” notion, there is a part in me which yearns for the same. I enjoyed a great childhood and teenage, good education, great parents and siblings, wonderful family etc. Now, when all my carefree years are over and I hit the job market, it’s pretty daunting and I feel the pain. Apart from my qualifications, skills and experiences I understand that my stutter plays a pivotal role in the interview process. And at this time, I feel the pain about my speech impediment and think “Could this be the reason for my rejections?”

In spite all the negativity and put-downs, my stuttering actually made me an optimistic and a happy dude. I equate stuttering to the idea of “fate”. We all do that. When we achieve something, we say “I did it”. And, when we screw up, we say “Sometimes, Life Sucks!!!” and move on. Similarly, when we start to accept ourselves how we are and move forward. We get a life of abundance were we barely notice we stutter. (Unless, some dimwit points us! )

Finally, I too share my friend Pam’s concerns on getting out celebrities to talk about their successes with their stutters and not by giving an illusion that they succeeded by overcoming stuttering. I promise, I will never do that.

PS: I really didn’t know what title to be given for this blog post. I used this title because I think it summarizes the mental agony & hysteria that surrounds fluent speech among the stuttering clan; which in reality, pretty difficult to be established. I hope I have done justice in relating the blog post with the title.

Little things that makes ME

Hey Ya!!!

It’s cool to come up with some Scribble’s quite often. Yesterday, my WordPress counter showed that I crossed the 200 mark which is really good. Kinda Sorta.

The idea behind this post is inspired from my twitter buddy Daniele Roissi (@stutterdude). I asked him to do an audio tweet. I like his accent and I was wondering to hear that. So, I tweeted him and he tweeted me to suggest a topic. I thought, why don’t I suggest “Little Things that makes you, YOU”. I believe that, everybody is unique and there are little things we do, for which we don’t have big explanations or scientific facts to back those. But, we do and that’s what sets us apart from 6 billion people out there.

I would really like you guys to post one or two interesting things about you. So, to keep the ball rolling, here’s my little things:

• I read magazines from the back cover – I have no freaking idea why I do that.
• I mix sugar in yogurt and eat with fork – Try this out. And, for God’s sake don’t try to eat with a fork, it’s no good.
• When I watch TV with my first younger sister, I pass mean comments on any TV programs, anchors, actors etc whether they are good or bad – My sister freaks out and it makes me laugh and I like it.
• I enjoy solitude – I don’t know why! I am comfortable to be alone. It doesn’t mean that I am a lonely dude. That solitude doesn’t freak me out like some people who goes really crazy when they are left alone. I think, it gives me an opportunity to reflect and analyze many things I am going through.
• I love half-boiled eggs – OMG! There is nothing better in this world when that hot yellow yolk breaks inside your mouth and slips through your esophagus. *Yummy Yum*
• I love tomato ketchup – I love to have that with almost anything and my Mom gets really mad at me for that. *LOL*
• I am a crazy fan of THE GODFATHER – Al Pacino Rocks, Man!!! *It’s not personal, Sonny. It’s strictly business* Yeah!!! *Don Corleone!*
• I always wanted to travel to the three most historically important places – Mecca, Bethlehem and Jerusalem. And, please for heaven’s sake, don’t be like Miss Teen South Carolina. If you really don’t know where these 3 places are located, Google it up!!!

And, those were my little stuffs.  I would love to hear from you too. So, whatcha got?

International Stuttering Awareness Day Online Conference 2009

Stuttering: No More than a Tangled Tongue

Stuttering: More Than a Tangled Tongue is the theme of the twelfth annual International Stuttering Awareness Day online conference, hosted by Judith Kuster, Minnesota State University, Mankato, will open October 1. It can be found by going to The Stuttering Home Page  (www.stutteringhomepage.com). The online conference features several papers written by well-known professionals and consumers (people who stutter/clutter) from around the world.  Participants can read papers and interact with the presenters on easy-to-use threaded discussions attached to each paper, during the three weeks the conference is “live” — from October 1-22. The ISAD online conference is freely available or can be taken for Continuing Education (1.5/15 hours) or one university credit (either graduate or undergraduate). Instructions and requirements for CEU or credit are online at

http://www.mnsu.edu/comdis/kuster/isadarchive/requirements.html

Papers remain available online after the conference has ended and all past conferences are archived and available at

http://www.mnsu.edu/comdis/kuster/isadarchive/onlineconference.html

I’m flattered

Do remember a time where your spirits were so down, that you become oblivious of your strengths and outta no-where someone appreciates the little things you have or had done and *boom* you get a paradigm shift and you feel so energized and positive. That kinda situation happened to me yesterday.

I returned home, tired and exhausted. I realized that, it’s been a while since I talked to my dad. So, I called him and after the usual updates that I give him about my job hunt and job hunt. He said one of his friends had read my post (It’s Eid Time) and was very appreciative and very much impressed.

I got that *boom* moment. Suddenly I felt very good, energetic and positive. I even patted myself and had a little narcissistic pep talk. It was very good. But, jokes apart, It really had a positive impact and uplifted my spirits. My dad always tells me that I have good writing skills and I need to hone those. I really don’t know. But hey, It’s OK to Suck! But, It’s not OK to Quit! (Disclaimer: Unless you really Suck!!! )

Umm, it was a perambulatory meander

Well, Perambulation and Meander might be an oxymoron. But hey, those two GRE words perfectly describe my long walks around Glasgow’s City Center in the cold and windy Scottish weather.

For the past couple of days that was what I was doing. Hunting down for bread and (peanut) butter at recruitment agencies, retail outlets and café bars. There were few opportunities. And, hackneyed phrases like “things are quite slow now”, “it’s expected to be better soon”, “you have an impressive CV”, “if there are suitable opportunities we will definitely contact you” etc. These banal remarks became so ubiquitous that instead of listening to these kinds of bromidic sermons, I started to observe that person’s accent and guess whether it’s a Glaswegian accent or an Edinburgh accent or a London accent or a Welsh accent. It might sound saucy. But, it gives me a lotta comic material and probably I could use it somewhere.

Job Hunt, Stuttering and Nursery Rhymes

Hi hi hi hi Hi!

Yesterday, I wanted to do a blog post but I was quite busy and I was doing the same thing what I have done for a couple of months. So, here we go!

Yesterday, I had a telephonic interview for the “Controls Engineer” position with a small R&D company which specializes in Marine Engineering Systems. I had a great time talking to their company’s Managing and Technical Director, Chief Technology Office, Lead Electrical Engineer and to their Office Manager. I got to say this, it was fantabulous! They were looking for professionals with wide range of experience. But the funny part is that, they very well knew I am a recent graduate with minimal experience because they contacted me through an online job-search website and they wanted to talk to me about my qualifications, skills and experience. *Shrugs*. Well, this means that they were impressed with my CV and all I had to do is to reassure them that I am capable to handling greater responsibilities and a drive to succeed at workplace. So, I think I did impress them. They asked me about their competitors and I knew that they would do because I screwed up this question with another telephonic interview. And, I was prepared for that. Finally, I had the opportunity to ask them questions and I hit the bulls-eye. They were impressed with the question because it summarized my preparation for this telephonic interview. This is the question: “I wanted to know more about your Tidal Turbine System and how it looked. So, I googled, But, I could not find any information or pictures. I would like to know whether the system is in operation or is it still in the design phase.” They said “That’s a good question.” and started to explain about their system which is still in the design phase and yet to be prototyped. This gave me another opportunity to prove my candidature and how I, being a graduate engineer would be advantageous? All in all, it was a good ride. I did stutter here and there. But, it was not pretty intense. I phrased myself properly, giving lots of pauses and breaths. So, my stuttering really didn’t bother me and I hope, it didn’t bother them as well.

Regarding the Nursery Rhymes in the title, I had a great time singing my nursery school rhymes. It all started on Monday, I was having a chat with my friend in Norway (She calls me “little bro” and I call her “big sis” and Do I hafta ask her to sign a release form to say her name? I don’t know!). All of a sudden, our Skype went blank. Now, I didn’t know that she could hear me. I was bored at that time and I didn’t know what to do?. So, I started to sing the ABC rhymes and boy, I sucked! I got confused after “P Q R”. But, I managed to complete it. Then, she revealed that, she could hear me! We laughed out loud! Our conversation changed to Nursery Rhymes and I tried to sing all the famous ones but I could just remember 2 or 3 lines. It sucked!!!

Yesterday, we again talked about this topic and luckily we had a teacher to join us in the conversation. We wanted to ask her the full stanzas and also to join us in our singing endeavors. Well, she was quite reluctant at first. But soon, she joined in.

Some of the famous rhymes we tried out are:

• ABC song
• Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
• Jack and Jill
• Hot Cross Buns
• Here We Go Around the Mulberry Bush
• Johnny Johnny Yes Papa
• Humpty Dumpty
• London Bridge is Falling Down
• Baa Baa  Black Sheep

Oh my dear! We had a great time! I wish, we could have recorded it. Believe me, it was great!

Oh, I forgot about this. Today, I was over the phone talking a call center guy. I was pretty fluent and the moment when I gave myself a pat, I got a terrible block. And, the guy started to speak so slowly and also stepped up his volume. I thought to myself, Whatta jerk? Then, I started to speak really slowly which I assume; freaked him out and he again started to talk normally. I was just LOLing inside. It’s kinda fun because you think he is a dork and he thinks you are one!

That’s it for now! Take Care All!

Mobile Post

Hey Ya!

This is a quick post from my Nokia E75 mobile. The reason why I’m post from my mobile device is that, I have been searching this for about 2 days to find the correct WordPress application for S60 mobile devices. Voila, here it is!

That is it for now. I’ll update you guys soon with another full-fledged post.

Take Care