Nick Weaver is a proud person who stutters who is a part of the Delta Blue Jean Company.

This summer Nick was the keynote speaker at the conference of Friends: the National Organization for Young People Who Stutter in Raleigh, NC.

In his speech Nick talked about growing up and having experiences common to stutterers; being hung up on while ordering pizza on the telephone, and asking someone for directions, “and be treated as if I was dumb.”

Over time, however, Nick came to be confident in “owning” his speech impediment, and realizing that all people have insecurities. He also developed the ability to laugh at himself. He came up with a pickup line with girls, “Hey, do you want good looking stuttering kids?”

Now a successful businessman, here is a link to a talk that Nick Weaver gave at a Stuttering Foundation event:

I admire Nick as someone who stutters open and confidently, and carries this into his work life. This is different from my experience.

With all the hundreds or thousands of times I had stuttered through the decades, I grew up not having goals for work or life. I could not envision doing work that required me to talk with people.

Meeting other people who stutter and hearing about their work lives helped me begin to see that there might be another way in life. I wanted to try the nonprofit world. I got a job working for an agency which helped folks with housing issues. Many of the agency’s clients had other challenges as well. The agency did not have a social worker, and much of this work fell to me to do.

The agency’s offices were in a large community room in a church. My colleagues and I sat in close proximity to one another.

To do my job I had to overcome my lifelong aversion to using the telephone; not only in placing calls within earshot of my colleagues, but also being on the phone while my clients sat beside me at my desk.

I spoke with other pws in the field, and realized that I had to get over it, to be able to do this work. Over time I became comfortable in doing so. My confidence grew, and later I went back to school to become a licensed social worker.

Jeff Shames

Tuesday, October 13, 2015