Thursday, June 26, 2008

A great inspirational quote

Last night my 10 year old moved up from elementary school to middle school. Congratulations Leah! I am proud of your accomplishments in elementary school. You are beautiful and definitely are the best singer in school. Anyway, one of the administrators started off his speech with the following quote:
"If you can imagine it, you can achieve it. If you can dream it, you can become it." He didn't say who originally said this so it might be anonymous.
I thought this was a fabulous quote especially for the child who is unsure of her/himself. I vividly remember thinking in 7th or 8th grade that I couldn't be a teacher or a social worker if I stuttered. ( speech pathology wouldn't have even entered my mind because of my own difficulties). Hence, I chose business for 5 years before I became a speech pathologist. I thought I could easily hide. I was wrong! You can't hide from yourself. These thoughts are so damaging to the school aged child or teen who stutters. I often probe school aged kids/teens what they think they will be when they grow up. We talk in a fun way about PWS who work in settings that require excellent communication. Guess what? I know many people who are not fluent, for example: Senator Joseph Biden, James Earl Jones, and Johnny Damon of the NY Yankees. Kids are so great and when you connect with them, many truly open up and shine.
BTW-Congratulations Samantha also for moving up to high school. I am so proud of you both!! Congratulations to all the children I treat who have had the courage to work hard on their stuttering and have demonstrated courage and determination. You make me proud!!

1 comment:

Bud said...

"If you can imagine it, you can achieve it. If you can dream it, you can become it." That quote is from William Arthur Ward