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From: Bob Quesal
Date: 10/9/02
Time: 9:04:19 AM
Remote Name: 143.43.201.67
Thanks for the great comments, Craig.
The points you make illustrate why I was so flabbergasted (I'm tired of saying "dumbfounded") ;-)> when I got this letter. It seems that any SLP with even a cursory understanding of stuttering would realize that you can't just turn fluency off and on in real-world communicative situations. Sure, I can turn it off and on in low-pressure situations and I can demonstrate that kind of stuff for my students, but that is not like speaking in other situations. But perhaps that's the thing about stuttering that's the hardest for a lot of folks to "get." Still, you'd expect that a fluency expert would have observed that in at least a few folks who stutter.
Regarding the "100% fluency" comment, I will say in the letter writer's defense that he later modified that (in a different letter) to admit that no one is fluent all the time. In spite of that, the message is still that any noticeable stuttering is bad and (apparently) should be avoided at all costa.
A bad, bad, bad message. (Gee, did I stutter in that sentence?) ;-)>
Thanks again for the great insights!
Bob Q.