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From: Vivian Sisskin
Date: 17 Oct 2007
Time: 08:10:17 -0500
Remote Name: 68.227.196.186
Nancy, For years my clients have expressed that acceptance of stuttering is perhaps more difficult than acceptance of other disabilities, for example, a physical disability that the public sees on a daily basis. Stuttering is unique in that it is not always present. Most PWS have “islands of fluency” throughout they day. This variability leads a PWS (person who stutters) to believe that they CAN be fluent, so they try to be. And those who stutter know that the more one tries to be fluent, the more stuttering will occur. My mentor, Joseph Sheehan, wrote about “role conflict’ and stuttering. He explained that the act of going through the day as a “fluent speaker” leads to conflict… taking the role of a fluent speaker (trying to be fluent) yet appearing to the public as a PWS, thus enacting the role of a PWS. This conflict makes acceptance very difficult. After all, a visible physical disability is always present to the public. If you want a challenge, perhaps try this experiment: Prepare to enter a speaking situation (a short one, perhaps asking a question in a store or on the telephone) with a strong INTENT to SHOW your stuttering, predicting struggle, and even welcoming it. This reduces the role conflict because you are taking the role of a PWS rather than the role of a fluent person. The roles are congruent and conflict is minimal. You might be surprised that you may stutter less, and when you do, your feelings of shame and embarrassment are minimal because you have done the thing you wanted to do, stutter! When performed with the INTENT to take the role of a PWS, voluntary stuttering and advertising function in the same way.