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From: Gunars
Date: 10/15/02
Time: 12:45:46 AM
Remote Name: 206.63.151.166
John,
I was a little disappointed in your answer. The modern philosophy of science (postmodernism, social constructivism) emphasizes the BOTH AND instead of the EITHER OR approach. But, I guess the field of stuttering therapy has always been adversarial: a) first thing I recall about stuttering therapy was the great Wendell Johnson vs. Charles Gage Van Riper feud, b) next was the Fluency Shaping versus Stuttering Modification feud, c) now there appear to be camps forming to start a Device versus Stuttering therapy feud, and, d) when I get out of graduate school in psychology, I can see the emergence of Stuttering Therapy versus Psychology feud.
These feuds appear to be very entertaining and occupying for those individuals who participate and those who observe. Otherwise, they would have died natural deaths.
I am very involved with stuttering therapy, having undergone at least 15 or 16 or 17 by the last count. I am also very involved in desensitization via Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy techniques. Finally, I understand that collaborative, competency-based constructivist therapy may be the best way to handle the Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome effects of stuttering. This empowerment and encouragement of people to be their own therapists by merely providing them with information, but not forcing them through structured therapy, may well work for a lot of people who are turned off by one size fits all therapy.
I think that was a long enough of an introduction. I really think that there is nothing wrong, except the price, with experimenting with an adjunct to therapy as SpeakEasy or Casa Futura version of it.
I see no disadvantage to wearing a bulkier device if the price is right. Of course, if it is uncomfortable I would opt for SpeakEasy. I do see that people who stutter have a very well developed feeling of shame: a) they are ashamed of their stuttering and b) they are ashamed of wearing a device. I think reading some recent Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) literature, such as the third edition of The Guide For Rational Living by Albert Ellis and Robert Harper may well reduce the shame to manageable proportions. If that does not work, I would suggest some good REBT therapist.
My experience is that Wendell Johnson’s approach to stuttering using General Semantics helped me not to define myself as merely a stutterer. Charles Van Riper gave me some tools to form sounds. Joseph Sheehan taught me a good desensitization technique, voluntary pseudo stuttering. Fluency shaping, taught me to follow my sound formations via proprioceptive feedback (feedback of the motion of my sound forming muscles) and overlearning the concept of easy onset. Stuttering modification got me out being stuck. Somewhere along the path I lost all secondary stuttering symptoms. REBT taught me to accept myself unconditionally and to take risks, like going back to university to earn my Psy.D.. REBT taught me also how silly it is to spend time AWFULIZING AND CATASTROPHIZING ABOUT MY STUTTERING. Constructivist collaborative competency-based psychology is teaching me that as a psychologist, I best understand that each of us arw different. But, moreover, each of us wants to be the Pygmalion of our selves. Above all we want to be empowered and respected.
What will the SpeakEasy or Casa Futura device do for me? I don’t yet know because I have been too busy with my studies to order one, but I am sure I will experiment and find out. Will it turn me into a perfect speaker? Probably not. But say it takes out another 30% of dysfluencies of the already rather fluent speech, it may make my communication process 30% better. Not a bad deal.
My questions to you, John, is: Why can’t the stuttering profession see the symbiotic nature of various approaches? Why is there such a strong feeling of "us" against "them"? Is it because the academic environment does not propagate integrative therapies whose ultimate goal is to serve the client, instead to publish more papers?
Respectfully,
Gunars