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From: Sandra Merlo
Date: 01 Oct 2008
Time: 09:21:20 -0500
Remote Name: 143.106.1.146
Dear Pamela, thank you for your question. In my clinical practice I have never seen a person who stutter that had 100% of covert or overt stuttering. What I always see is a mixture of overt and covert behaviors. Sometimes, some people who stutter may hide stuttering very well, but I always perceive some overt phenomena (example: abrupt disruptions in phonation). Two things call my attention regarding people with more covert than overt stuttering. First, when these people search for help with professionals that are not specialized in stuttering, they usually hear that they don't stutter. They usually get very confused with this conclusion and start asking themselves if they really stutter. Second, these patients reveal a great deal of suffering. They can describe in detail all the tricks used to hide stuttering and all the stress involved. With these patients, I focus on emotional reaction to stuttering and on strategies that can promote fluency as well. Best regards, Sandra