This past Tuesday ranks right up there in my list of top things I never thought I would do. But it also tops the list for being most special.

I had the opportunity, privilege, thrill to visit a middle school and talk to students as part of National Stuttering Awareness week. I had wanted to do this again, as I first had the idea in October and met with 330 kids in my school’s district in October, for International Stuttering Awareness Day. That day went went very well too, as the school embraced the whole theme. Because October is Disability Awareness Month, it fit nicely, and the school devoted a whole hallway to famous people who stutter and what stuttering is all about.

This day was even more special, because there were three kids in the school who stutter, one of whom has been getting teased and picked on by peers. My plan was to educate about stuttering, put it in the context of being a difference, and then work into teasing and bullying prevention. I met the kids who stutter before Tuesday’s presentation, so they could meet me and know what to expect. One of them told me he gets picked on and teased by kids in his class. I wasn’t sure if he/they would want to participate in the program.

I was wrong about that. They volunteered for everything. The one with the more severe stutter actually volunteered to do the “Coolest Stutter” in front of his whole class, which was a major risk for him, but he was beaming, especially when I gave him an award for doing it.

I told my personal story of stuttering to these kids, and I am not exaggerating by saying they sat in rapt attention. I had grabbed them immediately by stuttering openly right away. They had never heard an adult stutter while doing a talk. It was pretty cool.

We had reporters and photographers from two local newspapers. The kids in the school felt so special. Its awesome when we can spotlight kids and school for good things. And the principal was beyond awesome. She really embraced this and welcomed me with open arms. I met the superintendent, who also thought it was a wonderful thing to do. I don’t think most of the staff had ever interacted with an adult who stutters openly.

So, there was a nice newspaper article written up about this, and a video clip made and posted to the newspaper’s on-line site. The links are only good for two weeks, so won’t link them here. What I will do is list some of the awesome questions some of the kids asked me throughout presentation, and my attempts at answering them honestly.

“Have you ever been made fun of by an adult? ” I told them a few stories of when I’ve tripped over words while at a store and the clerk mimicked me.

“Is it worse to be copied or teased?” I said I don’t like either, but copied is hard. My face usually turns red.

“What do you say when someone teases you?” This was hard, because sometimes I am stunned or embarrassed, so I told the kids that, to be very honest.  I added that one time I said to someone, “you don’t stutter as good as me.”

“Is it hard to stutter with your students at school?” I said sometimes, but I try to be honest, and let people know I am comfortable with it by my actions.

“Does Tiger Woods really stutter?” I said he did when he was a kid.

“You squeeze your eyes sometimes when you stutter. Does everyone who stutters do that?” This was really good question from a very observant young person. It caught me off guard. I said, no not everyone does that, I think I do that to try to push the sound out.

I did five 42 minute presentations to grades 5-8 at a middle school in my community. I made a difference, using my stuttering, something I was always so afraid of and embarrassed about. Now I am using my experience to help others, maybe just one, develop more tolerance and respect for differences. I feel I truly made a difference.

But wait – the best part. When I was packing up to leave, a kid came out in the hall and asked me for my autograph. I couldn’t believe it. I asked him, “are you  serious?”. He said. “yes, Miss”. He had a piece of lined paper and a pencil. I signed and printed my name with a tear in my eye. He said, “thanks Miss, we are glad you came to our school.”

It was a good stuttering day!