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From: Kathy Swiney
Date: 03 Oct 2012
Time: 15:49:43 -0500
Remote Name: 76.17.183.48
Keith, While I don’t have research quality data, I did do monthly % of syllables stuttered measures. The average %SS at the beginning of therapy for teens 13 – 18 was about 17%. At the dismissal (or break from therapy) the %SS averages about 4-7% in conversation. One female TWS started therapy with 33% SS. Interestingly, she made the most progress in the least amount of time. I attribute that to 1) very positive self-image, 2) group of close friends in the same neighborhood who grew up together and defended one another from teasing for various reasons, and 3) an exceptionally good grasp of the nuances of language. I started out teaching TWS conjunctions, prepositional phrases and other forms of sentence “chunks”. When I asked her why phrasing was so easy for her, she said, “It’s where the meaning is.” She went from 33% SS to about 4 or 5% in just a few months. She didn’t have huge negative reactions to overcome. She considered stuttering an irritation that slowed her down in chatting with friends. Carryover has been according to parent report. The males often self-refer in middle school or high school. They are giving more oral reports, dating, etc. The topic of the story is critical for them. Most of the young men I see aren’t real enthusiastic oral readers, as you can imagine. They get interested in the weird news, forget about the tough times they have experienced reading to some degree. I often have to record their reading sample and play it back for them to believe how much better their fluency is using the technique. The boys also like Level 4. One young man who saw me in his high school said, “I love these debates. It is the only time I get to talk and say everything I want to say.” The phrasing, because it sounds so natural, seems to really “take” with the teens. One thing that often needs to be addressed is the feeling they are speaking too slowly. I use video clips of speeches and newscasts and have the teen compare their rate with that of professional speakers. Their rate while phrasing is comparable. Recognizing this helps teens adjust their inner clock. I do use the technique with young adults. For reading passages, I use articles related to their area of business or professional sports. Yes, negative emotions need to be addressed, especially if the TWS hasn’t had speech therapy or hasn’t benefited much from speech therapy in the past. Success in changing speech patterns, whether it is phrasing or another technique, helps TWS have the courage to reveal and deal with covert negative emotions in my experience. Keith, the teens I’ve treated have started speaking more, giving speeches that we have phrased beforehand, and been successful in the state mandated public speaking classes required for HS graduation! The best part of this technique is its naturalness. I’m getting a lot of carryover, more so than with other techniques I’ve used.