Technology: A Friend or Foe of Someone who Stutters?

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Re: Reliance on the Edinburgh Masker

From: Alan Badmington (to Pam)
Date: 23 Oct 2006
Time: 11:25:45 -0500
Remote Name: 84.64.23.186

Comments

Hi Pam, Thank you for your kind comments. The Edinburgh Masker never made me totally fluent. There were times when I enjoyed periods of reasonable fluency, but there were also times when the device appeared to be far less effective. The Masker seemed to divorce me from my own speech (because I could not hear it) and (in many instances) gave me greater confidence to speak (but not always). It seemed to be least helpful in important (and more challenging) situations. Every success that I experienced (however small) added to that confidence. My greater exposure to speaking with others also assisted me to develop useful interpersonal/conversational skills. Although I gave a few talks towards the latter part of my police career, I did not venture into public speaking until after I had discarded the Masker. The new techniques and tools, that I acquired when I adopted a new approach in May 2000, changed things quite drastically. Within a relatively short period of time, I had joined several public speaking clubs and was winning trophies in competition with experienced ‘fluent’ speakers’ ;-) The Masker had helped me through my darkest hours, and allowed to create a system that would later support greater fluency and self-expression (when the other approach became available). I have not worn the Edinburgh Masker since 2000. I wish you every success with your studies. Kindest regards Alan


Last changed: 10/25/06