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From: Charlie Osborne
Date: 10 Oct 2011
Time: 09:42:14 -0500
Remote Name: 143.236.34.52
I am not a person who stutters, but as a clinician, if I did stutter, I’m not sure would rather be referred to as an acronym, “PWS,” or by “stutterer.” I think Vince hit on the reason for PWS vs. stutterer. Using the term “stutterer” implies that the characteristic of stuttering encompasses all that a person is. By using “person who stutters” it includes the many other characteristics of what constitutes a person. When I went to school, back in the old days, I learned about “stutterers.” I now use either term when talking about stuttering and the people who do so. The problem isn’t so much the term “stutterer,” but the words “is” or “am” which are all inclusive. For me, I am a SLP. This leaves out all other characteristics of who I am (husband, father, sibling, son, wanna-be home brewer, etc.). As an instructor, I make every attempt to help students recognize that in our field we work with people who happen to stutter and that person A who stutters is not person B who stutters, etc.