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From: Dale Williams
Date: 10/9/01
Time: 8:54:52 AM
Remote Name: 209.214.12.107
Thought-provoking paper. As I continue to think about it, there are a number of ideas formulating in my head, i.e., the ways I finally came clean as an adult (and how my situation was different than Chris’), how becoming desensitized to listener reactions also helped when talking fluently to friends who stutter, post-desensitization avoidance, and a host of others. Rather than write a dissertation, however, let me pose just one thought.
I always had a mental image of a covert stutterer as someone who keeps it completely hidden, while tearing himself up inside. It seemed one of the few black and white areas in this field, i.e., you either are one or you’re not. Your paper has made me think about it a little more and realize that, clinically, the term ‘covert stuttering’ is similar to other words we throw around a lot (e.g., block, severe, eclectic therapy): it means different things to different people. Through college, Peace Corps, and 2 jobs, a total of about 8 years, I hid my stuttering from everyone I met. But looking back, I hadn’t considered myself covert during those years because I didn’t experience the constant anxiety about speech that has become one of the signature symptoms of CS. Sure, I avoided and worried about some situations, but didn’t dwell on them. Also, when I did forget to avoid (i.e., stuttered), my reflex was to force my way through the tension in an obvious fashion, rather than withdraw. Even so, much of what I was doing during at that time was obviously covert.
Rather than just defining ‘covert stutterer’ from now on (like it’s a firm diagnosis), I will tell my classes that it’s somewhere near the extreme end of the avoidance continuum and, as such, refers to behaviors which are done sometimes by everyone who stutters. Then I’ll discuss the emotions that can accompany such avoidance. After that, I’ll advise against overusing the term. Clinically, of course, it's important to determine all the components--amount of avoidance, amt. of anxiety, severity, and the rest. I don’t want new SLPs determining one symptom and making assumptions about the rest. We know stuttering is nothing if not variable. The same goes for covert stuttering.
Thanks for the help and for making me think about this a little harder.
Dale