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From: Retz
Date: 14 Oct 2010
Time: 11:31:10 -0500
Remote Name: 205.213.113.52
In speaking with a friend who is following the ISAD, he said to me after my posting:"Thoughts on this statement?" thread, "What are you, Retz? NUTS? Have you gone to the Dark Side? Do you actually believe the statement you posted?" So, I guess I need to make myself clear about why I posted the statement "I HAVE NEVER SEEN A PERSON WHO STUTTERS,AT ANY AGE,GET ANY WORSE BECAUSE OF THERAPY." I read this quote given by a professional expert in a newspaper article, and have heard many different professional experts share/imply this idea with others at various conferences. I ABSOLUTELY have found that statement to be false, and disagree with it totally. As a person who stutters, my personal experience receiving therapy in which the therapists delivered therapies emphasizing fluency training techniques, stuttering modification techniques & DAF to 1.) increase the severity of my stuttering (what one would see and hear when I attempted to talk),2.) seriously deepening the "below the iceberg" aspects of the disorder of stuttering and 3.) dramatically increase the fear of talking AND the fear of stuttering. These types of therapies and the way in which they delivered led me to chose what I believe to be the ultimate stuttering behavior of silence. As well, in my professional experience listening to parents of CWS, CWS, and adults who stutter many have shared very similar therapy experiences. It is my belief that some therapies - despite the therapists intention - that seriously risk and increase the probability of making a person who stutters worse. In posing my question regarding this "statement", I am wondering if the professors and experts participating in this ISAD conference would share their thoughts regarding the statement "I have never seen a person who stutters, at any age, get any worse because of therapy."