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From: Lisa Steinhardt, BC Grad Student & future SLP
Date: 06 Oct 2008
Time: 08:50:18 -0500
Remote Name: 70.23.98.212
I wanted to thank the two Joes for posting this article. As a future SLP and a person who does not stutter, I wasn't sure how a PWS would feel taking advice on how to combat stuttering from one who doesn't know what it truly is to stutter. In my Fluency Disorders course, our Professor instructed us to go and perform some "pseudostuttering", and then to write a reaction paper on the thoughts and feelings we had about the task and about stuttering in general. Although I thought this was an excellent assignment that helped us to gain some empathy with our future clientele, I didn't think that a PWS would feel that we had really been in their shoes. After all, people who stutter are not pretending, nor do they have the option of turning their stutter completely off or on. I also thought that a PWS would be more comfortable with a therapist that stutters as well. Your articles brought to light the other viewpoint, one that I hadn't thougth of. The parent that would be reluctant to send their child to a therapist who stutters because they felt that, if they couldn't "cure their own stutter", then how could the therapist help their child? The articles also reiterated the fact that just as every person is different, every PWS is different. Not every case is the same. A therapist who stutters and a client who stutters might have completely different views on their own stuttering, and so may not have the desired rapport required for a successful therapy session. These articles helped me to realize that a client who stutters will need to feel comfortable with their therapist and trust and believe that the therapist can help them regardless of whether or not the therapist him/herself stutters. I enjoyed reading your viewpoints and appreciate your having posted them. Thank you!