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From: Dritan Kiçi, Albania
Date: 08 Oct 2009
Time: 13:36:49 -0500
Remote Name: 84.20.81.42
Don't give me wrong. I a PWS my self, even I speak more fluently then most "fluents". The point is that pausing requires some conscience acting. You have to recognize the problem instantly from your feedback and choose to disregard the urge to go on speaking. I do agree that pausing is like magic that brings instant fluency, but with time I have come to realize that the stutterer most of the time is not relaxed and the emotional charge (like laughter or anger) makes it nearly impossible to act at the right time, with the right approach. This situation is more visible with the stutter who works and those with emotional problems. I do pause now very gracefully when I do need to, because it has become part of my speech pattern, but the way I have achieved this is very personal and nearly impossible to replicate. So now I do not teach my friends to speak fluently, but to "stutter fluently", easing bit-by-bit their blocks and forced speech. It works. Slowly, but the results are lasting and irreversible. To ask a heavy stuttrer to pause at the right point is like to ask a first day driving school kid to stop gently and precisely at the right point and time. Something else. Being "Magic", pausing works just fine when you really believe in it, so you need a bit of "faith", that we (stutterers) generally don't have.