Does it have to do with my voice/my speech/my cadence that IS “different” from most other people?

On the 8th of April, 2001, I was getting ready for the long-ish drive up to Bountiful, Utah to see my cousins' family being seeled to their newest adopted girl, Taylor. In order to travel up to the temple with my little boy, Addison, sleeping the whole-way or most-of-the-way, I was planning to drive him around in the car.

I had pulled out onto 1600 N. in Orem (that going west will lead to the freeway) to travel back East to State Street, but as I pulled into the intersection of the cross-streets of 1600 N. and 800 W. (with a convenience store on the corner--at least in 2001-2007 that is still the case), a speeding car ran the red light that I was stopped at and smashed into my driver's side of the car.

No, Addison was fine and is a happy all-but not injured boy (except for a small scar on his left leg)! Should I call him with you standing here, just so you can hear him talk to you? ... For some reason that nobody can explain, although he left my house in a front-facing-car-seat, but the ambulence drivers and police say that they found him in a rear-facing car seat (same seat, just turned backwards). Because he was in a rear-facing-position, his life was saved or at least kept him from very serious injuries...

I was in a coma for almost 4 months and was kept at the hospital for an additional eight months, but then was able to come home to my wife and my barely-one-year-old son. Well, it's been several years since then, and I am more than proud to tell of the tale. Sure, it's left me a little "banged-up" and I can't straighten my fight arm completely and I never had to wear glasses before the accident (unless I would wear "fake" glass-lense-glasses).

Oh, yes... I guess you can consider me retarded. But you can only because of the fact that I AM slowed down. However, instant-message me (Windows Messenger: joshua_stott@hotmail.com) and you will find that I am definately NOT a mentally retarded man...

So, maybe you could re-evaluate your initial impression of me and what sort of problems you would like to label me with. After you're done re-elvaluating your thoughts, please, read through the rest of this site and see what other kinds of things there are to know about the STIGMA of MENTAL HEALTH...

K-PAX (2-2:08) -Why is Prot instantly hauled off? -Is he “mentally disturbed” or dangerous? -Has he done anything that would require him to be taken away in an ambulence? … -What do they REALLY know about him, and are we all that quick to judge others often/all the time? -Do we not all act much the same way when we are judging someone we don’t really know? K-PAX (3-3:19) -Has Prot done anything that would have required that he should have required him to be taken to a mental institution? -Can any of us diagnose him as being crazy or institutionalizable? -Which points has anyone been able to diagnose him according to the “multi-dimensional integrative model? -After you hear him talk to and converse with other people, even hospital staff, even talking and expressing himself, have any of your thoughts of him changed? … -Do first impressions sometimes linger or remain prominent even after they have been “disproved” or “made/shown to be made rashly”? -Can you tell me what you think one of the easiest ways is to mistake a person because of a rash first impression?

What do you all think of when someone says “retard”? No, seriously… In what way is Sam retarded? Remember, the meaning of the word “retard” and what most people mean when they say that word…

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Websites and Articles about Stigma on the Web
Searching “crazy" on www.google.com: 280,000,000 hits for “crazy”.

http://www.namiscc.org/index.htm (a movement of families, friends and individuals dedicated to improving the quality of life of people affected by serious mental illness and the ultimate eradication of these diseases.)

http://www.hsdsa.utah.gov/stigmaillness.htm
(a Utah State health mental wellness site)

http://www.dbsalliance.org/site/PageServer?pagename=advocacy_fightingstigma
(Depression and Bi-Polar Support Alliance)

--www.hsdsa.utah.gov/stigmaillness.htm
(a Utah State health mental wellness site)

--www.nostigma.org
(to combat stigmas in mental health)

--schizophreniabulletin.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/25/3/467
(Otto F. Wahl, Ph.D. -- Professor, Department of Psychology, George Mason University Fairfax, VA

--eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=EJ684512&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=eric_accno&accno=EJ684512 (scholarly work on mental health issues)

----www.hsdsa.utah.gov/stigmaillness.htm
(a Utah State health mental wellness site)

--www.nostigma.org
(to combat stigmas in mental health)

--schizophreniabulletin.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/25/3/467
(Otto F. Wahl, Ph.D. -- Professor, Department of Psychology, George Mason University Fairfax, VA

--eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=EJ684512&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=eric_accno&accno=EJ684512 (scholarly work on mental health issues)

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Newspapers

http://www.louisianaweekly.com/weekly/news/articlegate.pl?20060605f
"One of the greatest, and most undertreated, threats affecting Americans today is mental illness. Four-Hundred-Fifty million people worldwide are affected by mental, neurological or behavioral problems at any time."
(Mental Illness in the African American Community – 6/5/06)

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2005-06-06-mental-usat_x.htm
"About one in four adults have the symptoms of at least one mental illness every year, and nearly half suffer disorders during their lifetimes, according to the study of 9,282 people published in the Archives of General Psychiatry."

http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/40/12/18
"Almost 40 percent of articles in U.S. daily newspapers associate mental illness with dangerousness and crime. There are ways that psychiatrists can work with reporters, however, to help ensure that the public gets correct information."

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MUSIC

Genesis – ”Back in NYC” (M.Rutherford/S.Hackett/P.Collins/P.Gabriel/A.Banks) I see faces and traces of home Back in New York City So you think I'm a tough kid Is that what you heard? Well, I like to see some action, And it gets into my blood. Well, they let me out of Pontiac When I was just seventeen I had to get it out of me If you know what I mean, what I mean. They say I must be crazy Cause I don't care who I hit, who I hit. Cause I know it's me that's hitting out And I know I'm not full of shit. Down by my bottle, filled up high with gasoline You can tell by the night fires Where a rail has been, has been. As I cuddled the porcupine He said I had none to blame but me. Gave my heart, deep in hell, Time to shave, shave it off, it off No time for romantic escape and your Fluffy heart is ready for rape Off we go. Off we go. Off we go You're sitting in your comfort Who don't believe I'm real You cannot buy protection For the way that I feel. Your progressive hypocrites Handing out their trash It was mine in the first place So I'll burn to ash. When I've taken all the strongest meats And laid them down in colored sheets Well, who needs illusions, Of love and affection when you're out Walking in the streets, your mainline connection... Connection. As I cuddled the porcupine He said I had none to blame but me. Held my heart, deep in hell, Time to shave, shave it off, it off No. No time for romantic escape And your fluffy heart is ready for rape No. No time for romantic escape And your fluffy heart is ready for rape No time. Back in New York City. Click here for more Music pages.