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From: Kevin Eldridge
Date: 20 Oct 2011
Time: 20:47:50 -0500
Remote Name: 24.12.164.27
James, Let me start by telling you that I am an SLP and a PWS. I went through a fluency shaping program when I was entering college, and then again when I was just out of college. It was similar to your intensive in that I learned a new way to speak and recall being told that if I used my newly learned skills it would be physically impossible for me to stutter. Did my therapist really say that, or is that what I wanted to hear.. I don't know. All I know is that I practice quite a bit and kept waiting for my techniques to become natural. When I was younger, I was waiting until I would turn 15 because that was the age my dad quit stuttering. Well... I turned 15, 16, 17... still stuttered. So waiting for that was a waste of time. Similarly waiting for the "targets" to become natural was a waste of time (for me). My techniques gave me confidence to enter some speaking situations, but they never became natural. Funny thing though, once I was able to actually look at how much progress I had made, rather than how much further I still had to go, my speech began to get more fluent, more natural. Did my strategies help, probably, but that was not the key. I had to change how I though about my stuttering and my self. So... not sure I agree that the thing to do is practice and practice and hope it will become natural. For me... and many other I have met... that is not the case. For me that's ok....