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From: Ryan Pollard
Date: 18 Oct 2012
Time: 20:38:27 -0500
Remote Name: 69.116.220.90
Great questions, Angela. The concept of control is a very interesting one in stuttering therapy. On one level, there’s learning how to take control over one’s stuttering moments. Clients typically do this by not backing away from stuttering, learning to tolerate it, play with it, change it, and ultimately do it with less tension, aversion, shame, etc. On another level, there’s learning how to control one’s overall manner of speaking. To do this, clients are usually taught ways to slow their rate and/or prolong the syllables and smooth the transitions between syllables. If a client feels that they have good control over either of those aspects (stuttering or speech), it makes sense that they’ll be less reluctant to use those tools in everyday life. However, that’s still no guarantee that they won’t revert back to their old patterns for some of the reasons discussed in the paper (particularly those trying to speak fluently). As far as whether controlling one’s speech is a matter of choice, please read my first response to Pamela above for my perspective on that question.