I remember experiences in grade school where stuttering was simply something I did not talk about with my teachers. They never brought it up to me either. It would have been helpful if they had. I was in the third grade when I finally accepted that I had a speech problem. My teacher wanted to put me in the middle reading group, while I thought that my abilities indicated that I should be in the top reading group. I asked my mom what the word was that I did (stutter), and I talked to my teacher. I don't remember what her response was, but I think I stayed in the middle reading class. When I was in the seventh grade, we were required to give speeches in class. I had to give speeches even though I stuttered. At that time I did not know that I could talk to the teacher about getting out of it. So I did it anyway. My stuttering at that point was more repeating sounds. Throughout that year and the next, I was mimicked by some boys who lived in the same housing complex as I did. I quickly learned to try to avoid talking around them. That year my speech started changing to more blocking than repeating sounds. (update - Recently I got an e-mail from one of the guys from junior high who had teased me. He apologized for teasing me, and said that he admired me so much for giving speeches even though I had a stuttering problem. He told me that he had been petrified to give speeches and continues to be afraid to give speeches in public.) (Sarah Henderson, September 20, 1999)