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From: Samantha
Date: 15 Oct 2010
Time: 17:28:13 -0500
Remote Name: 96.246.172.9
I am currently taking a fluency disorders course in a masters program. I find your article particularly interesting because there is no consensus on the exact definition of stuttering or fluency and this ambiguity is reflected in treatment and goal formulation. On the first day of my fluency disorders course, the professor asked the class “what is stuttering.” The class provided a purely behavioral definition of stuttering with responses such as “repetitions, prolongations and blocks.” When you ask people who stutter to define stuttering, they provide an affective/cognitive aspect. Their response to the question “what is stuttering” is as follows: “hiding, burying myself in books, holding back, whispering and using bad habits.” Many therapy programs guarantee fluency or the absence of stuttering by the end of a specified period of time. However, stuttering involves affective and cognitive correlates that must be addressed in therapy. Even though the person is fluent, he/she may have a negative attitude about communication and inner fear about communicating. Fluency involves both internal (thoughts about communication) and external (speech production) components. Is there currently a trend in therapy to provide more of a descriptive definition of fluency and stuttering in the writing of treatment goals? How will this issue be resolved in the future and impact the future of this field? THANKS!