True Life: I Stutter – My Wrap Up
Wow. Just got home from work and I find the blog views are going vertical…guess people want to know more!
Almost one year ago just when I got back from an ASHA convention I was motivated to go write to MTV to pitch them an idea for their show True Life. Why not eh? That’s a great show to detail something like stuttering.
One year later. It’s been covered 
I am happy to see that MTV chose to show stutterers accepting their stuttering and realizing…”ok I can live with it.” Other segments on stuttering have pretty much been covering the “miracle cures.” This is the first step toward getting stuttering awareness out there to the masses. People who have the problem and are willing to show it will only speed up the process!
At first when I heard that MTV decided to go ahead with this I was overjoyed! I called them up and sent e-mails and tried to see what I can do to get on it. I got pretty far in the process but we all know who ended up on the show lol. Then close to summer I began to think, “Ok, what if they try to show the struggle throughout the whole show and make people feel sorry for stutterers? ” Yikes! That was my concern all the way up til today. I like how it was done and is a good way to introduce stuttering to people who don’t know much about it. I didn’t catch the last 14 minutes or so (I had to leave for work!), but I hear it ended well.
Overall, the seeds have been planted for getting awareness out there (and the positivity stuttering bring…believe me it can). Now someone else needs to cover it… I’m talking to you Oprha, Tyra, Ellen, etc! 
-DDDmitriy
phenomenal job of getting the idea over to mtv… and thank goodness it wasn’t just another “miracle cure” piece.
if anyone has the show, i’d love to see it – missed its sunday night showing…
if asha last year moved you to this mtv piece, i hope this year leads to even more good stuff from you.
we will be giving a short course at asha about the dynamic balance between “acceptance” and “adjustment” – if you’re there, we’d love to see you…
keep up the good work!
Hey Uri! Thanks for visiting. Last years ASHA “re energized” me to write to MTV. I wrote a nice letter to Oprah a couple months previously and I was thinking who to write also, and I think one of my friends recommended True Life or it just popped into my head.
I think it will be available on MTV’s website soon, they have a couple True Life episodes up already. Or maybe someone tivo’d it?
Also, yes I’ll be at ASHA, mostly at the Friends booth so come by and see me. If I can I’ll try to check out the presentation! Adjustment after acceptance is one crazy journey! lol
I didn’t know it was you who pitched the idea! Great job, Dmitriy! I hope they show that episode in Canada.
Uri,
I was just reading your comment and I saw that you werent able to see the showing on Sunday. Your in luck, I just so happened to look at the tv guide on my tv and I saw that they are replaying it on Wednesday at 4:30 pm..eastern standard time. Hope that helps a bit. I will be at ASHA with Dmitiry..but I will pretty much be working the NSA both. I cant wait for ASHA..looking forward to it.
Alex.
I’ll find you all at the NSA booth…
Find me at the Thur pm short course.
And, if you have any thoughts [readers?]… re: “self-acceptance” and/or “self-adjustment” when it comes to dealing with stuttering… I’d be eager to hear from you.
Might even integrate it into our still-developing short-course at ASHA
Uri
Hi! I was surfing and found your blog post… nice! I love your blog.
Cheers! Sandra. R.
I’m watching the True Life episode on stuttering right now. I’m 27, from South Jersey and have stuttered since I learned how to talk. I went to therapy all through school, traveled to meet the top speech patholigists and even got the “miracle” thing you put in your ear (“Speech-Easy” I think it’s called – it seems to help, though only in quiet places).
My parents and my older brother always tried to make me realize that I’m not that different from everyone else. They taught me to accept my disability but, at the same time, not to stand for disrespect. I fought a lot (both mentally and physically) but, I was well liked/popular with most people/girls/teachers/principals. The ignorant people take notice when you’re confident and you stand up for yourself.
Lately though, I seemed to have lost my confidence. Being 27 and on my own, I have to do a lot more things for myself (important phone calls especially). I dated/lived with a girlfriend since high school (for @ 7 years total) and she handled most of the big stuff for me. Well, she passed away 2 years ago and, while trying to move on, I learned that the confidence I had in high school is gone. I don’t mind getting shot down but, getting hung up on (by potential dates roommates/whoever answers her phone) is something I’ll never be OK with.
I’m still struggling but, I’ll keep cracking away at it. Shows like this True Life are great ways to curb the ignorance. There needs to be more like it! Thanx to everyone involved!
P.S. Out of all the stutterers I’ve met, I’d guess 95% of them were males. I can’t recall ever meeting a female stutterer outside of a speech pathology clinic….. Jessica, call me!