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From: Alan Badmington
Date: 20 Oct 2008
Time: 05:01:57 -0500
Remote Name: 195.194.75.225
Hi Scott, Thank you for your interesting paper – it was JUST RIGHT. :-) One point of interest - I found the introduction of pauses invaluable in dealing with my own stuttering issues. Throughout my life, I always felt that I needed to utter some kind of sound, even if it involved repetitions or other struggles. I was most uncomfortable with the silence. Besides, if I paused, I doubted that I would be able to re-commence speaking. I simply wanted to say as much as I could while the ‘fluency’ lasted. :-) Today, I use the pause to good effect, in conjunction with a slower speech rate (when appropriate). The pause provides me with a period of calmness in which I am able to think clearly about what I want to say. The previous turmoil has been eradicated. In common with the children to whom you refer in your paper, I needed to establish when my pausing was ‘just right’. It seemed very strange at first – even a few seconds appeared like an eternity. I found it helpful to listen to my speech via a digital recorder. Do you encourage your clients to utilise such a tool? Kindest regards Alan