Technology: A Friend or Foe of Someone who Stutters?

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Re: Long-Term Effects of Anti-Stuttering Devices

From: Alan Badmington
Date: 04 Oct 2006
Time: 20:33:22 -0500
Remote Name: 81.76.3.59

Comments

Hi Thomas David, Thank you for contributing to the threaded discussion and providing comments about the long-term effects of anti-stuttering devices. As I indicated in my paper, many former Edinburgh Masker users told me that they discarded their devices because of the discomfort. Incidentally, I was one of the first group of PWS to acquire a Masker in the 1970's, when I travelled to Scotland to undergo tests on the bench model. It had been featured on the BBC television programme, 'Tomorrow's World'. The original portable devices were not equipped with ear moulds. I was issued with something very similar (in appearance) to a doctor's stethoscope, which was aesthetically unacceptable in view of my employment as a police officer. Consequently, I made my own arrangements to obtain ear moulds locally. In fact, I was the first person to use ear moulds, which were subsequently supplied with later models. When visiting Scotland, I had the great pleasure of meeting Ann Dewar, the speech-language therapist who was involved with the Masker's development at Edinburgh University. I recall that the earliest Masker users were invited to participate in an initial survey. I completed a questionnaire that I received from Ann. We remained in contact up until her sad death in 1999. I recall her saying/writing (on many occasions) that she had not fulfilled her wish to conduct a follow-up survey to establish long-term results. Kindest regards Alan


Last changed: 10/23/06