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From: Lynne Shields
Date: 11 Oct 2011
Time: 14:27:28 -0500
Remote Name: 68.188.68.2
Gerald, You make a great point. Addressing communication skills is quite important in therapy, for any type of communication disorder, including stuttering. I think that there are quite a few of us in the field who do consider this an important part of treatment, and sometimes the most important part. Your point is well taken, though, in that I suspect that quite a few SLPs focus more on the fluency skills than on the big picture--helping the person feel comfortable communicating, whether or not they happen to stutter. You also mentioned quality of life. Bob Quesal and Scott Yaruss are on this list and may want to comment on their assessment tool, the OASES, which rates the impact that stuttering has on the speaker's life. Some of us use this tool to help identify where the person is relative to quality of life, and work with the person to figure out how to begin to make positive changes. I would guess that SLPs may not address these important aspects of therapy relate to the nature of their training (focusing on techniques) or lack of training in the area of fluency disorders. Thanks for posting your question and bringing this issue up for discussion! Regards, Lynne