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From: Terry Dartnall
Date: 10/20/03
Time: 2:55:52 AM
Remote Name: 132.234.9.79
Hi Adam
“When you substitute and/or avoid words and phrases, can you tell a difference between those substitutions that characterize non-stuttering speech and those that are occurring as part of covert stuttering.”
My first reaction when I read this was, “Yes, of course I can tell the difference.” But having thought about it I realise that the answer isn’t so simple. I think word avoidance has become automatic for me – not only in terms of doing it in general, but in terms of the particular words I avoid. I imagine I have a pretty good mental map of words to avoid, and the words to use in their place – so that to some extent it’s second nature to me. But sometimes I do get struck. Talking about religion is a case in point. I have the darndest difficulty saying “religion,” so I try to substitute. I might use “faith.” What about the word “religious”? That’s more difficult, because there’s no suitable synonym that I know of. “Believer” might do, but now I start to feel that I’m not really saying what I want to, and/or it’s stilted. Trying to say, “religious denomination” is like putting my head in a mangle.
My word avoidance – how much I word avoid - varies depending on who I’m talking to and how confident I feel. On a bad day I word avoid a lot. On a really bad day I feel “locked up” inside. But on other days I’m really fluent. And tiredness and hunger! They make a big difference. I do all my teaching in the mornings, when I’m fresh. I turn into a cabbage at 5 o’clock.
Terry