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From: Katie McDonnell
Date: 19 Oct 2005
Time: 14:04:38 -0500
Remote Name: 140.160.106.96
Dr. Quesal, I agree with your ideas that we should pay more attention to those who do not respond to particular treatments and we should have more tolerance for imperfect fluency. Take the case of Rob Bloom. His very inspiring article that is posted on this home page proves that a person who stutters can still be a very successful communicator, even when speaking in public. He hid for many years, becoming so distressed, he developed a stomach ulcer. He confronted and conquered his fear and now is at terms with his fluency disorder. Mr. Bloom was told, “he would grow out of it.” However, he never did. Possibly, if clinicians used more empathy-based practices after other treatments didn’t work, he would not have hidden from or feared his stuttering so much. As I mentioned, I do agree with the ideas presented in this article. As a future SLP and also as a person who does not stutter, I am wondering in what ways could a clinician show empathy toward an adolescent who stutters? I can imagine a 13 or 14-year-old feeling patronized by a clinician who “understands” when they are not in the same situation as the client.