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From: David Shapiro
Date: 21 Oct 2012
Time: 16:24:33 -0500
Remote Name: 50.55.245.42
Hello Keiko, Thank you for your excellent question. Actually, I don’t think that the challenge you are experiencing in measuring the positive influence of treatment is unique to Japan. As I read the treatment literature and work with colleagues and people who stutter internationally, I find that this challenge is experienced universally. While attention to evidence-based practice is increasing, a necessary question must first address what the treatment is aiming to achieve. Reducing disfluency and increasing use of fluency facilitating controls over time and place are both essential. Also essential, however, are developing and maintaining positive thoughts and feelings about oneself as a person and as a communicator and using language to communicate within an expanded community for a variety of purposes. I am glad to hear that you are learning from clinicians and clinical researchers in the USA. I must add that I learned so much from both consumers (people with communication disorders and their families) and professionals (speech-language pathologists, researchers, and speech scientists) during the several months I spent in Japan few years ago. Based at Kanazawa University, I worked with both groups in prefectures from Tokyo to Kyoto. Indeed we have so much to learn from each other. I am reminded of this every time I interact with colleagues both in the USA and abroad. Focusing on our common interests, we can learn and grow together in every moment. Thank you again. Kindly, DAS