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From: Bob Quesal
Date: 06 Oct 2009
Time: 14:20:10 -0500
Remote Name: 143.43.238.205
Hi Pam: You probably don't want to get me started on this one, but I have long had "issues" with SLPs who only see stuttering as surface disfluency and don't want to take the time to understand that there is a lot more to it than that. (See my paper from the 2003 ISAD conference: http://www.mnsu.edu/comdis/isad5/papers/quesal5.html I have said for a long time that fluency is the de facto goal of therapy, but that is not a reasonable goal for ALL people who stutter. I think it is critical that we broaden our definitions of success, so that we can match treatments to client needs and, as Tim pointed out above, increase the likelihood of third-party reimbursement. And, although this rubs some people the wrong way, I believe that the only person who truly knows about his or her stuttering is the person who is doing that stuttering. People who stutter HAVE to be involved in decision-making and educating.