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From: John Harrison
Date: 10/19/02
Time: 10:40:02 AM
Remote Name: 216.27.182.38
Alana,
<< I am not quite clear as to what comes first with people who stutter, in regards to this treatment approach; as with the common question "which comes first the chicken or the egg?" According to this idea, does the person stutter and then develops the feelings which causes the stuttering to continue, or does the person develop fears of talking and those fears causes the stuttering? The article says that a PWS focuses too much on the words he/she is going to say, and the repetitions or prolongations that may come along. So, is it this fear of the repetitions and prolongations that causes the stuttering or the other way around? >>
I have a theory based on my own experience. I would propose that it is the feeling of helplessness and panic associated with the first few speech blocks that "fixes" the fear in the psyche of the child and makes the problem self-perpetuating.
Years ago at about the age of eight, I was eating dinner one night when I choked on a piece of spinach. It was long and stringy, and for maybe a half a second, I couldn't breath. Sixty years later, I remember that half second as if it happened yesterday (and now I always cut my spinach into small pieces before eating it.) It does not take much to create a phobia.
What I think must happen is that the child unconsciously tries out certain strategies when he is having difficulty speaking. If he inadvertently executes a valsalva maneuver (that is, if he locks his throat and tries to push out the word), he does something that is counterproductive to speech. Furthermore, if he is in a social situation where he is called upon to speak...where people are waiting for him to speak...where he would feel strange if he DIDN'T speak...he suddenly panics at not being able to utter the word he is trying to say. He panics. He feels helplessness. The fact that he now feels different from others adds emotional fuel to the fire. He does not want to look strange, but suddenly he can't avoid it.
It does not take many such experiences like this to create a phobia about speech blocks. And because the speech blocks are triggers for more speech blocks, you end up with a self-supporting, self-perpetuating system.
John