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From: Lisa LaSalle
Date: 07 Oct 2009
Time: 23:05:28 -0500
Remote Name: 69.222.77.73
Hi Joelle, MSU is a great place to be in grad school, I hear. You've asked two good questions: (1) about the prevalence of cluttering vs. stuttering and (2) about the emotions that may exist in a person who clutters. Both are difficult questions to answer because of the commonplace co-occurrence of cluttering and stuttering. There is a lack of data on cluttering prevalence, and while there was recent speculation that cluttering is less prevalent than stuttering (e.g., St. Louis, Raphael, Myers & Bakker, 2003), we know that one of the problems in this data is lack of self-identification of the problem among people who may indeed clutter. My own experience is that people who clutter are referred to our clinic by others (a professor; a teacher; a well-meaning friend who just so happens to be a "comdis" / SLP major), not self-referred. And the second problem with understanding prevalence of cluttering is that it often co-occurs with stuttering, so when the cluttering is more severe and the stuttering is more mild (as was the case with Bill in this presentation), how is this counted into prevalence data? Most clinicians, even fluency specialists, don't diagnose cluttering readily unless "looking for it." We have a ways to go with understaning the true prevalence of cluttering, is my point. Your question about emotions in people who clutter can be answered in this way : People who clutter tend to express frustration with not being understood, and with not getting their message across to others even though they may have a clear enough message in mind. People who stutter, as you allude to, have a whole range of emotions over not being able to say the word(s) that they want to say at the moment that they want to say it. So when the disorders co-occur, you can get a blend of both sources of emotions. I recall that Bill, for example, expressed some annoyance over brief blocks, but a stronger sense of frustration over being told by listeners to "slow down" and to "repeat" himself. My co-presenter at the IFA conference this past August, Dr. Lesley Wolk, had a client who participated in our study, who had social-emotional issues in addition to his pure cluttering. So, I think you can have a variety of diagnoses leading to a variety of individualized feelings. I am also struck my people who can have very nonchalant attitudes towards "severe" communication disorders and vice versa, very negative emotions about a relatively mild disorder, whether it be cluttering, stuttering, or any other human condition.