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From: Steve Hood
Date: 10/13/03
Time: 3:25:05 PM
Remote Name: 199.33.133.50
Hi, Julie
Thanks for your comment-- but I must admit, I am not quite sure what you are asking. I'll take a stab at a reply, but if I am missing your point, then please ask again.
Most clients strive for natural sounding speech. Speech Naturalness is a goal for them, and they do not want to sound "artificial" or like a "robot." For many of them they think their stuttered speech sound more normal/natural and less artificial that when modified via speech targets of modifications. For some, when the pressures and stresses increase, they need to work harder to monitor their speech, and employ the targets and strategies they have learned.
Toward the beginning of therapy, when new skills are still fragile, they probably will need to be a bit more deliberate and pay more attention to what they are doing....... later, they can do it automatically and with less special attention needed.
Let me try this analogy. If I were a much better and more confident driver, then maybe I could continue to drive fast during a rain storm. But I elect to be a little more careful and deliberate, and I slow down a bit, keep both (rather than one) hand on the steering wheel, and try to be more alert to dangers (other cars) on the highway. During this time period I am not able to maintain my "normal driving mode" and I think this is similar to what you wrote when you said "maintain normal souding conversational speech." Later when the weather clears, I can speed back up and drive with just one hand on the wheel.
This is another way of looking at the "gearing up/down" analogy in my paper.
The second part of your comment seems to deal with trying not to stutter / trying not to fall off the bike. I think the same principles aply: when there is more pressure and more stress there is often a tendency to try harder and harder not to stutter. But doing more and more to not stutter is counterproductive to using your techniques and tools to hit targets and modifications that allow you to continue more easily.
I wish I could speak my reply here, and verbally demonstrate what I am talking about....... Please:--Ask me again, if you think I misunderstood your comments.
Steve