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From: Alan Badmington
Date: 04 Oct 2010
Time: 16:22:16 -0500
Remote Name: 95.144.69.228
Hi Tim, Thank you for contributing yet another most enlightening paper. I was shocked to learn that children under the age of three display a cognitive ability to form an intention not to stutter. The sentence “If your intention is to conceal stuttering from listeners, you will pay close attention to using tricks and crutches intended to avoid stuttering” rang a distinct bell with me. I resorted to virtually all of the strategies that you listed (and I suspect, even more) at different times of my life. :-) Incidentally, I touched upon my extensive use of avoidance in my earlier response to Judy Kuster’s paper (The "R" Avoider). I feel that they are pertinent to your paper and so I am taking the liberty of copying and pasting them below: “Having commenced stuttering in early childhood, I developed a variety of strategies to protect myself from shame and embarrassment. I began avoiding words that appeared to cause me difficulty. Almost unconsciously, I substituted them with others that I felt more confident in using. Avoidance crept insidiously into my life. I was unaware of the true extent of my dependence - it became such an integral part of my existence. Until recent times, I was completely oblivious to the fact that, whenever I changed a word, I fuelled my fear of saying that word. Each time we avoid something, we strengthen its influence over us. We can avoid for so long, but the time will come when the situation demands that we have to say a specific word, or speak in a particular situation. When that happened, I found that my fear level had increased to such a level that I stuttered more severely. Had I been aware of the implications when I was younger, I would certainly have made every effort to reduce my avoidances. By deliberately introducing such words into my daily conversation (and not waiting until they had to be said), I found that the fear gradually receded. Today, I no longer avoid words or situations, nor experience any anticipatory fear.“ During recent years, I have met a number of stroke victims who needed therapy to help them regain the ability to speak. Interestingly, several admitted to practising substitution in respect of words/sounds that they found difficult to say. I will comment upon cognitive behavioural therapy when responding to the observations that you kindly provided in respect of my own paper. Thank you for sharing your experiences of stuttering and therapy. Kindest regards Alan