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From: Ken Logan
Date: 14 Oct 2010
Time: 08:30:07 -0500
Remote Name: 98.70.129.81
I'd agree with the points that Kevin made. People who stutter usually will have "dis-ability" in speech fluency while performing daily activities (for some people, the "dis-ability" will be apparent in only a handful of activities, and for others it will be apparent in many activities). One can also have "dis-ability" in participation (e.g., not saying as much as one would like to say, not speaking in as many situations as one would like to speak in). These "dis-abilities" (I'm using the hyphen here to signify a relative lack of ability or skill!) are usually the things that make a person seek out the services of an SLP. So, that's one way to think about it. There is also, though, the broader concept of "having a disability". Sometimes, clients can have a very difficult time coming to terms with this. (It's a little like the episode of Seinfeld, when Jerry is duped into wearing the puffy pirate shirt on national TV. Kramer tells him, it's no big thing, the pirate look is going to be the next big thing. And Jerry answers in a helpless way, "But I don't want to be a pirate!"). It's not uncommon for people who stutter to want to keep stuttering (the disability) at arms length (or further). Coming to terms with disability,in this case one that affects speech fluency, can be a very long and painful process for some people, and it's important for clinicians to be sensitive to "where the client is" in this process. I'm not sure if it's necessary for a client to be 100% comfortable with the concept of "having a disability" to make significant progress in therapy, but I think the more comfort one has, the more one will be able to view the challenges they face in an objective way. Great question! I'd be interested to hear others' thought about this.