STUTTERING FOUNDATION Q & A: DAVID WONG
David Wong is a Dentist who specializes in Peridontology and Dental Implant Surgery. He sat down with the Stuttering Foundation to discuss his many life and career successes and a lifelong journey with stuttering.
SFA: Do you remember when you first began to stutter?
Location: I grew up in Lewisville, Texas. I now live in North Dallas.
Profession: I am a Dentist specializing in Periodontology and Dental Implant Surgery.
Family:
My family lived in New York City in my early years then moved to Texas. We’ve resided in Texas for over 20 years. My father passed a few years back. I have a younger sister and she now lives in California.
Hobbies, Interests, Passions: Hiking, Sports including Tennis and Basketball, Traveling.
Successes:
My aspiration to be a dentist and ultimately a periodontist began in high school. A dental accident at a young age was followed by many dental visits. Having gone through multiple dental procedures at a young age was frustrating. My frequent visits to the dental office inspired my interest in dentistry and ultimately specializing in periodontics. My passion took me through Undergraduate Education, Dental School, then Residency Training before becoming a Periodontist and Dental Implant Surgeon. I am board certified by the American Board of Periodontology.
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Tell us about your experience with stuttering as a child.
No words can describe the amount of frustration and anxiety every day, especially during school. My biggest fear was speaking in front of the class, not knowing how my classmates would react. The bigger the audience, the more severe my speech impediments became. As a child, I would succumb to talking as little as I can. This way no one would realize my speech issues, and I always find creative ways to avoid speaking. Now looking back, I should have used my creativity and effort in confronting my fears of speaking in public, because I had plenty to say!
DAVID: My parents remembered I did not start speaking until the age of 4. When I did speak, my parents recalled my words weren’t coherent and consisted of many repetitions. Sometimes my words just never came out. I have always remembered stuttering throughout my life.
Does it run in your family? Who else stutters?
Nobody in my immediate family stutters. However, my mother’s cousin stutters.
Did you seek treatment? Did it help?
During 1st grade, a speech pathologist informed my parents I would grow out of my stuttering. However, that was not the case. During dental school, we started seeing patients and it wasn’t a small task for a stutterer. I went to see a speech pathologist to seek help. The therapy helped me communicate effectively with confidence. No one therapy was a magic pill; it was a realized foundation to build on. Building towards fluency was essential. However, it was working through the psychological blocks that allowed me to be free and myself.
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