The Why and the How of Voluntary Stuttering

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Re: voluntary stuttering

From: Morgan
Date: 19 Oct 2005
Time: 17:52:05 -0500
Remote Name: 69.22.238.4

Comments

Morgan, I am so glad to hear from you. I hope you are doing well. Convincing a person who stutters to try voluntary stuttering is often no easy task. When beginning therapy, I do not expect a client to jump right into using voluntary stuttering. Although, I have a lot of respect for Dorvan Breitenfeldt’s Successful Stuttering Management Program (SSMP), an intensive treatment program, that does immediately focus on using voluntary stuttering. With my adult clients, I model stuttering behaviors throughout the therapy process and begin discussing the concept of voluntary stuttering early on in the therapy process. I model all assignments first, before asking clients to do so. For example, if I suggest that an adult client ask a question at a drug store while stuttering in a hard and noticeable manner while making eye contact, I will model this assignment at least once if not several times in front of the client. If a client is apprehensive about completing the assignment, I will generally be patient. One of the reasons I wrote this ISAD article was that I wanted to be able to give clients a short paper that they could read on their own time that spoke about the various aspects of voluntary stuttering. I also refer people who stutter to self-help organizations. Organizations like FRIENDS and the National Stuttering Association often have voluntary stuttering workshops that allow stutterers to use this tool and talk about it with a friendly and knowledgeable group.


Last changed: 10/24/05