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From: Mark Irwin
Date: 21 Oct 2008
Time: 02:54:17 -0500
Remote Name: 60.231.215.44
I repeat a previous comment that most SLPs I have met are well meaning and considerate. However is there a crisis of leadership within the speech pathology profession? Are potential leaders so afraid of ruffling feathers that the pace of much needed change in therapy and public awareness has halted? I refer particularly to an article in this year”s conference “What Clinician Should Know!” (exclamation mark included!) in which the author states that “evidence indicates that Prolonged (Smooth Speech) should be the therapy of choice for adults who stutter.” Surely this statement should be challenged by senior SLPs not only because of the extremely high relapse associated with this type of therapy, but also because percentage stuttered syllables can hardly be seen as a comprehensive measure of the stuttering syndrome. This paper has been read by and no doubt influenced many SLP students many of who have commented on what they see as a “great paper”. If future SLPs are to improve their clinical abilities do you not agree then that the “therapy of choice” comment needs to be called into question? (As a pws I have already asked questions directly but have received no reply either publicly or privately.) What is the mechanism for instituting change within the profession? mirwin@cobweb.com.au