[ Contents | Next | Previous | Up ]
From: Maggie Mitchell
Date: 10/17/03
Time: 4:14:32 PM
Remote Name: 134.29.48.23
I too am a graduate student in speech-pathology and am enjoying learning so much about stuttering. It definately is a lot to absorb and I agree with your comment that the reason SLP's may be reluctant to work with those with TS is the same reason they are reluctant to work with PWS: we can't always fix it! And it is because we can't always fix it with traditional speech therapy interventions that I believe that some cases may be more neurologically involved than others. I don't think that a traditional speech therapy would necessarily work to cure someone with TS, but I do feel that it would benefit the person in conjunction with medication as well as counseling. Anything can help... sometimes.
I think the fact that many people with TS or Parkinson's or MS seek professional help once they develop stuttering is because they know what stuttering is while they may not know what else is going on. The stuttering is something they remember as a child or teenager in a public school setting, and they know that those students that stuttered often went to a speech therapist, so maybe I should go there too. The other medical issues that are going on may be unfamiliar to them or they may not know enough about TS, PD or MS for those disorders to occur to them. I think this says a lot about the good exposure that is given to stuttering and speech therapy these days. You all are doing your job about spreading the word and giving the public information that is as accurate as it can be. That is what the International Stuttering Awareness Day is all about! Who knows, someday there may be an International Tourette's Syndrome Awareness Day!
Thanks for sharing your paper!