Some Thoughts on Stuttering Therapy

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Re: Honesty

From: Dave Williams
Date: 10 Oct 2008
Time: 14:38:35 -0500
Remote Name: 134.29.71.100

Comments

Hey Malorie! Great to hear from you and thanks for the kind words. Yes, I do think that all or nearly all stutterers are looking and hoping foR "the cure," hoping that it won't be too long, expensive, or painful. That's only natural and to be expected because stuttering is such a terribly frustrating and demoralizing experience that stutterers tend to clutch at straws and provide a ready group of customers ripe for scam artists or for honest, sincere practitioners who really do think they have a reliable, painless, and short-term "cure." of course, a stutterer will learn from sad experience that there's no such thing (so far as I know) as a quick and permanent cure. Electronic devices using DAF, FAF, masking noise, etc. can provide instant relief from stuttering blocks, but they are not likely to change the stutterer's self-image and learned habit patterns. But stuttering is such a complex and variable problem that exceptions can be found to anything that I (or anyone else) says about stutterers or stuttering. As to why I decided to "go public" with my diary.... Well, when I wrote it, I didn't even think about what I would ever do with it. I just liked to write, and it got to be a habit to make a daily entry, and I guess there was some self-catharsis involved. From simple 2 or 3 line entries in 1939 and 1840 (never mentioning my stuttering), I began making longer entries in 1941 and '42, using regular blank ("page=a-day") diary books. I began to mention my stuttering more and more in those years as I became able to confront myself better. In the fall of 1940 I entered Marshall College (now Marshall U,) there in my home town of Huntington, WV. I majored in pre-engineering in my first year, but had a rough time with math courses and switched to an English major in my second year, where I got nearly all A's. I had had 5 weeks of rather superficial stuttering therapy in St. Pete FL in the spring of 1940 and my speech improved, but after I entered Marshall my speech went to hell, and began to write more about it. In 1942 I had a better time. In 1943 I kept diary entries on regular 3-hole lined paper, 8.5 x 11 inches, becoming much more detailed. In 1944 I began typing my diary, and some entries were a full page or more, double-spaced. This continued until I abruptly quit keeping a diary in 1947. Understand that my diary covered all aspects of my life and daily events, not just my stuttering. Maybe 15 or 20 years ago or more, I decided to review my diaries and copy out everything that I had written about my stuttering. To my surprise, this came to 40 Single=spaced typed pages---the stuff you are slaving over right now. Much more than what I wrote about my skimpy love life, my aviation interests, my stillborn interest in becoming a fiction writer, my job experiences, etc., etc. No one other than my wife has ever read my diary until I sent it to Judy Kuster, And now you! I'd love to hear your further reactions, opinions, and ANY questions you may have about me or anyone I mentioned in the diary, or about any event I wrote about my email address is jdavidwilliams@comcast.net. I have great admiration for Judy Kuster, for all she has accomplished with this annual ISAD conference. And my thanks to you, Malorie, for what you're doing. I look forward to any email from you.


Last changed: 10/10/08