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From: Jessica Karn TSHH and graduate student at the College of Saint Rose
Date: 10 Oct 2005
Time: 15:13:51 -0500
Remote Name: 66.65.246.38
I just want to say great job for conquering your fear. I am working on my graduate degree and I am currently working with two clients who stutter. The first is a twelve-year old young lady, and the other is an adult male. I have been exploring with them the option of self-disclosure, as I (as well as my supervisor) feel that it is an important step in fluency therapy. My twelve-year old client does not like the idea of telling others about her stuttering at the beginning of conversations, especially because she is in middle school, and we all know how difficult middle school can be. My adult client stutters pretty severely and I have asked him his thoughts about self-disclosure. He feels that it is unnecessary because his stuttering is "self-evident". However, I told him that I felt that it would be a good idea for several reasons: first, disclosing the fact that he stutters at the beginning of conversations will (in theory) take some pressure off to be fluent. Second, self-disclosure shows that you accept the fact that you stutter, which helps others to also accept that fact (there is less shame and more acceptance). Lastly, when he tells others that he stutters, he will also have the opportunity to tell communication partners what he expects of them (not finishing his sentences for him, not interrupting, not pressuring him to speed up or telling him to slow down, etc.). I am hoping that I will be able to help my clients to realize the importance of self-disclosure. I think that many people have not had encounters with people who stutter and may not know how to react to it, but if the person who stutters is able to tell others that he stutters and then explains what he expects of his listener, it will take the pressure off of both communication partners.