One Chronic Stutterer's Path to Fluency

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Differential diagnosis of “stuttering” from “stammering”

From: William H. Perkins
Date: 10/15/02
Time: 4:43:19 PM
Remote Name: 12.80.33.102

Comments

A few words on the differential diagnosis of “stuttering” from “stammering” that Huang Haiyin describes in his fine paper.

Historically, stuttering meant repetitions, prolongations, or hestitations of syllables or sounds that characterize normal disfluency; stammering meant involuntary blockage. Johnson’s research in the 40’s led him to the conclusion that the two terms are synonymous, which eliminated “stammering” as a term used professionally and in post-1970 dictionaries. Accordingly, stuttering now refers to both normal and abnormal disfluency. How can they be distinguished clinically?

Normal disfluency is characterized as linguistic corrections. Fluency is characterized by automatic coarticulation. Voluntary efforts to speak fluently involve static articulatory postures to which voluntary pressure can be applied that not only eliminate coarticulation but create the voluntary equivalent of involuntary blockage. Such blockage cannot begin until sufficient speech has been acquired to speak fluently. Late onset, coupled with speech insecurity, is characteristic of what Bloodstein’s continuity hypothesis describes, and also Huang Haiyin’s description of his severe late onset at ten years of age.

By contrast, involuntary chronic blockage typically begins in early stages of speech acquisition, as Stromsta’s brilliant longitudinal research revealed (1986). It develops as an unconscious method of coping with a speech phobia that probably is a consequence of terrified night crying (Perkins, 2002) and covert maternal rejection (Kinstler, 1961).

References

Kinstler, D. Covert and overt maternal rejection in stuttering. J of Speech & Hearing Disorders, 26, 145-155 (1961)

Perkins, W. Tongue Wars: Recovery From Stammering. Reno, NV. Athens Press (2002)

Stromsta, C. Elements of Stuttering. Oshtemo, MI. Atsmorts Publishing (1986)


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