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From: Russ Hicks
Date: 10/6/01
Time: 11:57:03 AM
Remote Name: 24.4.254.202
Monique,
You think it opened YOUR eyes? Let me tell you, I've stuttered all my life, been a member of the National Stuttering Association for over 16 years, and learning about covert stuttering in the last year or so was absolutely astonishing to me! If you'd listen to Chris (he's a neighbor and a friend of mine), you'd never guess in a million years that he was a "stutterer." Yes, his speech rate is very rapid, it's hard to shut him up <I guess that's why we get along so well!>, and you MAY think that he speaks "a little differently" than most people, but you'd never be able to put your finger on exactly WHY his speech is "different." Stuttering probably would not even come to mind.
In the last year or so, I met several other people kinda like Chris. Sarah Watson and Cathy Olish appeared in my life, and I began to realize that they and Chris were "different" in a very similar sort of way. I've known Steve Hood for years, and he probably has the most professional knowledge of any SLP in the world about covert stuttering, so all five of us got together and developed a workshop for the NSA Boston convention last summer. Working with these wonderful people for nearly a year in developing this workshop was one of the most interesting - and amazing - times of my life! You can't believe how much I've learned - after I thought I knew it all! <smile>
Covert stuttering really stretches the traditional definition of "what is stuttering?" Stuttering has been characterized as an "iceberg" problem, one with maybe only 10% about the waterline that you can see (or hear), and 90% below the waterline, invisible in the form of "emotional baggage" like fear and shame. In the case of a covert stutterer the iceberg is VERY dense, it lies so low in the water that maybe only 0.1% of it sticks out and you tend to dismiss it as next to nothing, certainly not a significant problem. What you totally miss, however, is the 99.9% of the problem which is BELOW the surface, which is really THE problem, and can be EXTREMELY severe! Fear, situational paralysis, denial, and isolation are extremely significant problems that are NOT addressed by traditional speech therapy such as fluency shaping. A covert stutter really doesn't have a "stuttering" problem (in the common definition) but rather he or she has a FEAR or ISOLATION problem which can be FAR more devastating than in a typical overt stutterer. As a moderately severe OVERT stutterer myself (I am the polar opposite from covert), I would not trade places with a covert stutterer for anything. Their FEAR problem FAR outweighs my lack of fluency problem!
It's also a huge mistake to even consider a covert stutterer a "mild" stutterer. No way. In some rare - but absolutely real - circumstances, I've heard Chris and Cathy and Sarah get stuck in a legitimate "severe" block which have rivaled some of mine in my younger days. And those blocks always lurk just beneath the surface like the Great White Shark (zoom, zoom, zoom, zoom...) and scare the bejeebers out of a covert stutterer at even the remote possibility of that shark rising out of the water and striking without warning! I've seen it happen! Such events don't happen to a mild stutterer.
Bottom line, Monique, covert stuttering may well be the next frontier for the SLP of the future. Forget about fluency shaping (well, almost) and get out your psychology books to attack this problem. And if you can, attend our NSA conference in Anaheim next summer. I'm sure you'll find it fascinating - and more fun than you can ever believe! <smile>
Russ