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From: Ellen-Marie Silverman
Date: 10/6/03
Time: 4:44:54 PM
Remote Name: 172.129.243.67
Maryann,
Thank you for voicing a concern I have heard others voice often and have felt myself for quite some time. One of my dearest professors at The University of Iowa, where I completed both my master's and doctorate degrees in speech pathology, Dr. Hugh Morris, who stuttered to a mild, sometimes moderate degree based on frequency, told me when I was his teaching assistant in the cleft palate course he taught that he chose to professionally diassociate himself from the stuttering area because he had not as yet been able to overcome his own stuttering problem. I admired his integrity. I, as he, believe an "expert" or "authority" lacks credibility attempting to teach others how to manage a problem they themselves have not overcome. I include in this group of experts on stuttering those who stutter severely both in frequency and pattern yet claim that since their stuttering doesn't keep them from saying what they want to say whenever they want to say it, they have no problem communicating. I feel this is a short-sighted view of communcating since it fails to take into account the feelings and concerns of those to whom they speak. Such individuals mistakenly think merely stating their points of view means they have no problem communicating, but such a view of communication is quite immature and problematic for an adult and tends to make a mockery of training speech therapists to work with people who stutter by suggesting that nothing can or needs to be done to modify one's stuttering.
I think that therapists exposed to these experts reasonably can be expected to question whether or not therapy can be helpful and, then, when they pursue that concern deeply realize that it most definitely can. I hope you are finding that to be so.
Ellen-Marie Silverman