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From: Stef J (SLP Grad Student)
Date: 18 Oct 2008
Time: 18:34:51 -0500
Remote Name: 96.42.1.102
Hi Erika. You've made some very interesting points in your paper. I can definitely see how music could benefit individuals who stutter in certain ways. I myself am a person who stutters, and I've always found great relief and validation in being able to express myself through music, as I love to sing. I feel that singing definitely provides a method of expressing oneself and helps build a person's confidence in their ability to do so effectively. If anything, I think this is perhaps the greatest benefit music can have on a PWS. I do have a few questions/comments about your paper though, that perhaps have already been addressed and answered in previous comments, and if so I apologize for the repetition. Since this forum does not allow for the use of paragraphs in comments, I have numbered my questions/comments in an attempt to provide some sense of organization. (1)(a)How many stuttering clients have you worked with and what percentage would you say expressed a substantial benefit from music therapy? (b)In what way were they benefited? Meaning, was their stuttering reduced or were they more comfortable with the fact that they stuttered, or both? (c)Do you typically work alone or in conjunction with an SLP? I found it interesting that you stated that if a person's stuttering is deemed a "result of social anxiety," then it is okay to work with them individually, without the aid of an SLP. Though SLPs cannot claim to be experts on the subject of stuttering, we can contribute a unique and informed perspective on the subject. (1) Do you feel that music therapy alone, without speech therapy, is enough for some individuals whose root is supposedly a result of social anxiety? It has been my experience, and has been expressed by a number of other people I know who stutter, that a stutterer's anticipation of what they are going to say can have a significant effect on their stuttering. Some suggest that if a stutterer didn't anticipate, they would stutter much less or not at all. From reading your paper, I came up with the notion that perhaps the use of music, in particular the spontaneous creation of lyrics, helps reduce anticipation of what is going to come out of a person's mouth. (3)Have your clients made comments regarding their anticipation and whether it has been decreased? Lastly, and this is a comment and not a question,someone in a recent comment also mentioned that the concept of time pressure is altered through the use of music. I'm not sure if there's any evidence for this, but it seems to make sense to me. In music, words are framed differently and there are deliberate pauses and prolongations of words. The flow is completely altered, and language is treated in a unique way in song. It makes complete sense that a sense of urgency is non-existant because the point is to be creative with the rate of flow, not to adhere to a socially accepted rate. Very interesting paper, thank you for sharing and I look forward to hearing your response! Stef