It is just maddening to think that anybody has to go through life with their teachers being the ones who bully them!! The universities that train teachers and give them their credentials to teach thousands of youth during their career should not only be able to spell (how many teachers I have met who couldn't!), know their subject extremely well, teach their subject, handle problem students gracefully, encourage students to want to learn, and know how to handle bullying in and outside the classroom. Therefore, the teacher should never be the instigator of showing any disrespect for one who stutters!!! Here is only one post I read online telling of poor treatment in the classroom:
"I had a terrible time in school but not from my class mates. It was from the
teachers who never had the time to be patient with me, and understand my
problem;they accused me of being stupid because I couldn't read out loud."
All teachers should be required to learn how to converse with a student who stutters. A class showing the Stuttering Foundation of America's video for teachers with the teachers in training getting the brochure "Tips for Teachers" should be required. They should also have to demonstrate that they can use this knowledge by having a one on one conversation with someone who stutters.
As a former educator who had family members who stuttered, I was able to give counsel to many teachers about students who stuttered. I don't remember the Foundation having any information like a brochure that could be handed to them back then, but just knowing not to finish sentences or supply words and to just patiently wait for the stutterer to speak and to let them know "it is okay to stutter in my classroom" makes speaking get easier and easier. There were students who stuttered that didn't stutter as much in my classroom as in others because as soon as I noticed they stuttered, I cheerfully said "stuttering is allowed in here" and they stood taller, held their head up, and didn't feel like a burden for taking so long to speak. It also taught the others in the class that this person really has something to say. I demanded respect and showed respect. All other educators should learn to do the same. That goes for students with other speech difficulties, learning disabilities, and physical disabilites, too!
