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From: Chris Roach
Date: 10/14/01
Time: 6:17:54 AM
Remote Name: 152.163.197.49
Mallory, great observation! The whole purpose of "substitution and avoidance" is to attempt to find a way to sound "normal" as compared to what we fear the stuttering will sound like -- abnormal. We strive for normalcy so much that we often overlook that our use of "s&a" may, in fact, be defeating that very purpose by creating a new "abnormalcy," as you described for teenagers. The use of unusual or impractical substitutions may, in fact, be drawing more attention to the speaker than stuttering!! THAT may cause the listener to think the person is even stranger, than if all they did was stutter! What a dilemma.
You've captured the essence, through your comments, of the importance of trying to learn to simply say "what is ours," without avoidance or substitution, by pursuing the ability to stutter openly, but more mildly, without the horrendous anxiety of the fear inside which tends to accentuate the degree of stuttering severity when it does occur for a covert.
Congratulations on a great post. Regardless of the age of the stutterer or his or her listener, saying, "I w-w-want a m-milkshake," sounds a heckuva lot more normal and acceptable than "What sounds terrific about now and would really be satisfying to my taste, could possibly be something like an ice cream type of shake or something." <Don't laugh -- every covert stutterer will appreciate this!>
Thanks, Mallory.
Chris