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From: Walt Manning
Date: 06 Oct 2008
Time: 10:12:32 -0500
Remote Name: 141.225.97.59
Pam, It's not unusual, especially early in therapy - when the speaker has yet to become desensitized to a sufficient degree - for voluntary stuttering to turn into real stuttering. When that occurs it provides the opportunity for the speaker to stay in the moment, continue to stutter, slowing changing the form of the stuttering and achieve VS again. If they are unable to do this - rare, but it does happen for some people, it's a good sign that they need to become much more desensitized about stuttering. Giving oneself "permission to stutter" and to experiment, vary, even play with the stuttering, not only aids in desensitization but begins to break the link between (real) stuttering and being helpless and out of control. There is an important - even critical - distinction between fake and real stuttering. Real stuttering is an out-of-control and helpless experience. It's no wonder it's scary. I ask my fluent students who pretend to stutter in daily speaking situations to see if they can "lose it" to the extent that they can't immediately get back to their fluent selves. PWS can benefit from distinguishing the cognitive experience of being in control of their fake stuttering vs. the lack of control of their real stuttering. When they get good at it they can achieve control of their real stuttering by staying in the (real) stuttering moment long enough to begin creating systematic behavioral change. As the speaker begins to appreciate that it is possible to stutter and not be completely helpless, they can begin to determine HOW they are stuttering.