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From: Greg Snyder
Date: 08 Oct 2006
Time: 19:11:15 -0500
Remote Name: 207.68.248.51
Hi Linda. You ask: [Where will it take treatment as we move forward - keeping the old style practice or what will "cutting edge" treatment look like? Do we know/trust enough about pharmaceuticals and/or adaptive equipment and where they fit into a transforming picture?] Well--first off, I don’t even pretend to know. Certainly for the immediate future, there will be no dramatic changes to the way stuttering is viewed and treated. This is even reflected in the questions and comments from this article, and others on ISAD 2006. However, I expect that there will be a “trickle-down” treatment effect that will largely originate from outside conventional SLP. One such example is Pagoclone, which uses a clever methodology to ultimately reduce levels of dopaminergic uptake without many of the currently associated side effects. And I really do like this line of research, as it has a clear and directly testable (stuttering) theoretical basis. I also expect the use of prosthetic devices to increase, as they get better at implementing the technology. Certain behavioral techniques known to (at least temporarily) alter neural functioning may also be highlighted. Point being--I (hope) that the trend of stuttering theory and treatment will move away from the largely untestable and pseudoscientific perspective that is still pervasive in current stuttering treatment. (Sure, the treatments are marginally effective and likely better than nothing; as was “ulcer” treatment—before the medical model evolved from “stress” to antibiotics.) While it pains me to say this, but much of stuttering theory and treatment is corrupted by dogmatic pseudoscience and subsequent tolerance of status quo. It utterly baffles me that a recent survey of people who stutter found that the most preferred element of stuttering treatment was “self-acceptance.” While important in the current treatment model, it is (or should be) a very shameful aspect for our field to accept.