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From: Rhonda Greco
Date: 08 Oct 2005
Time: 18:05:35 -0500
Remote Name: 68.110.178.214
Dr.Rentschler, let me start off by letting you know that I am not a speech/languange clinician. However, as a lifelong PWS, I can heartily attest to the wide range of emotions that accompanies dysfluent speaking. It is something that I deal with many times throughout the day(and I consider myself a mild stutterer). I strongly agree that the cognitive skills of the PWS are affected by fear and anxiety preceding a speaking situation known to result in stuttering. When speaking before a group, the nervousness and anxiety about when/how/how often I will be dysfluent, leads to difficulty focusing on the content of my speech. I believe, in my own personal situation, that the constant anxiety makes "ad libbing" very difficult. I find that I am much more fluent when I have time to think about and organize (and sometimes write down) my thoughts. Thanks for an interesting article and for addressing an issue that is often overlooked.