The Prof is In

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Re: Recations to Stuttering

From: Ken Logan
Date: 21 Oct 2011
Time: 10:47:58 -0500
Remote Name: 128.227.124.243

Comments

I have stuttered for many years, and as you might have expected, have experienced a very wide range of listener responses. Most often people don't show any obviously negative reactions - many folks seem to sense what's going on, though it may take a moment or so for them to do so. One of the most common things is for folks to smirk or say "that's a tough one, huh??" when there is even a very slight hesitation in providing information for which the social/pragmatic expectation is that a prompt response is called for, e.g., What's your name? Where do you work? - in those situations it's not socially acceptable for the speaker (i.e., me) to hesitate for more than moment. One should know his name, right? Doing so, brings out the reactions I mentioned above. For kids, of course, peer responses can be much less subtle (and much more mean spirited, unfortunately). But even the subtle responses can be deflating for the speaker, and worth exploring and addressing in a therapy context. Good luck with your project. I've had my students do similar things and they find it challenging!


Last changed: 10/22/11