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From: Bill Murphy to Gunars Neiders
Date: 10/8/00
Time: 2:23:18 PM
Remote Name: 128.210.251.12
Dear Gunars, Thanks for your supportive comments. I too had little success changing my stuttering until I learned self-acceptance. Joe Sheehan's avoidance reduction therapy along with my goal to become the " best possible stutterer" went a long way in giving me much fluency and allowing me to use techniques to smooth out my remaining stuttering. I have also worked with a therapist using Ellis' ideas but I believe you are correct in thinking this approach is too abstract for children so we have to develop play, experiential ways to teach eliminate.
"Let's Be Different" sounds like a good approach to me. Not just for kids who stutter but for all children. Classroom presentations / exercises could easily be developed.
I do agree with you that learned behaviors and feelings, which so often go along with stuttering, are crucial to eliminate. That was the base for Joe Sheehan's therapy. He felt that these behaviors, once removed, would leave fluent speech. I agree with that in part, but for many a significant degree of stuttering remains and continuing to work on smoothing out the disfluencies elicits even more fluency.