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From: Bobby
Date: 19 Oct 2009
Time: 00:44:32 -0500
Remote Name: 71.228.119.75
Amy: Having the type of speech therapy in 1966 like what I had a few years ago probably would have been better for my self-esteem and there is a chance I would have stuttered less or at least with a lot less problems. But the problem is you can’t go back and change the past. You can look at what was done, see what worked and what didn’t, but the past is locked into history. I’ve had a few people ask me about my previous therapies, especially my first one and I would like to had better therapy, more “client centered” than “speech centered”. But that is not how it was done back then, so I don’t dwell on it too much. The main reason I tell people such as yourself about my earlier therapies is so you can learn from them how it was more into correcting the speech itself and the psychological aspects were not even considered. From what I’ve seen in my most recent therapy and from what I’ve heard from others who’ve been in therapy, now SLP’s try to address all aspects of speech, the mechanical portions and the emotional ones as well. A person can learn all of the mechanics of speech to affect fluent speech for a short time, but without the emotional aspects being addressed it won’t last long. SLP’s are not trained counselors, but they are human with all human instincts and emotions. As speech therapy progresses and the client begins seeing their fluency improve, so will their emotions about their speech. The astute SLP (or student) will be able to detect the slight emotional improvement and will encourage it. Once a PWS feels their stuttering is not an “end all”, their fluency will improve. It is a two-lane street, as the emotions improve, so will the fluency.