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From: Michael Retzinger
Date: 02 Oct 2008
Time: 08:33:31 -0500
Remote Name: 76.229.214.9
This is not meant to offend - Just my personal view as a person who stutters having experienced various Fluency Shaping Therapies. I find this an interesting thread. My experience with therapies - based on FS techniques and strategies - led to a more severe level of stuttering and choosing silence over the anxiety and expectations of fluently shaped speech. At the end/discontinuation of the "therapies", it was therapist implied that I was the reason for the failure of therapy...Needed to practice more, unmotivated, just didn't try hard enough, etc. From the point that FS therapy stopped my stuttering, one could say that it was effective -I did stop stuttering...stopped talking as well. Over the years in my interactions with a number of other people who stutter, I have come to know of many similar FS "therapy" experiences and outcomes. I do understand how researchers will look at their own research, as well as what they consider "friendly" research, and say "Yes! See? This proves this is the best!" Personally, I would urge extreme caution regarding the message that FS is the research based appropriate therapy to use with PWS...No matter what the selected research might "prove". The therapy is certainly not "dangerous" to the therapist, but my experience is that it certainly may be extremely "dangerous" to a PWS. Perhaps more research should go into the effects FS therapy has had on large #'s of PWS? As a PWS, I would hope the professional experts and researchers might consider more meaningful exploration of what PWS consider effective therapy. I am also wondering concerning the idea of "anxiety management"...Is that something the SLP's in Australia receive deep training about? Would it be considered ethical for SLP's to administer "anxiety management" therapies without adequate training?