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From: Peter Reitzes
Date: 20 Oct 2009
Time: 07:11:15 -0500
Remote Name: 165.155.192.90
Taylor, thanks for writing and great question. You ask, “[I] was wondering if this [pausing] might become a secondary behavior and become part of the stuttering instead of aiding in fluency [?].” I share this concern with any speech tool including pausing. I am of the opinion that any movement or approach one takes in response to stuttering can be productive, unproductive, or a little bit of both. I don’t see tools as either good or bad or right or wrong. I see speech tools as ideas that need to be experimented with, discussed, examined, practiced and revisited. For example, a few days ago I was ordering my morning espresso and was blocking. I used a pull-out and noticed that my face was tensing a bit when I was pulling-out of the stutter. My pull-out helped me out of a block, yet, I was not happy about the facial movement. In therapy and through discussing stuttering in self help and with friends, I have learned to look at my stuttering and my reactions to stuttering (including speech tools). Over the last couple of days I have been focusing on using pull-outs and easy onsets without the facial tension. Ideally, therapy is about such exploration, at least it was for me. Hope this helps. Thanks again for writing.