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From: Greg S
Date: 22 Oct 2008
Time: 16:42:13 -0500
Remote Name: 130.74.194.76
Hi Joe. The 'Valsalva Hypothesis' is one person's non-professional opinion that made sense to (the author). So it's really not a 'scientific' approach or explanation to stuttering, but rather one person's experience. I'll try and do my best to explain his experience / theory. We use 3 very complex systems to produce speech: (1) Respiratory; (2) Laryngeal (i.e., "vocal chords"); (3) Supralaryngeal (everything above the vocal cords). The 'Valsalva' is essentially valving that occurs (using the 'vocal chords') to increase pressure in your chest. Increased pressure in your chest is pretty important, relative to movement and exercise. So it's my interpretation that the author of this hypothesis is saying that "controlled breathing" (or controlling the primary respiratory valve) was a major variable toward controlling his stuttering. In all honesty, I'm glad that this helps some people--but it's my professional opinion that a well qualified and experienced SLP (specializing in stuttering) is the better choice. Hope this helps,