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From: Ken St. Louis
Date: 10/15/00
Time: 12:03:03 PM
Remote Name: 157.182.12.51
Dear Theresa,
I second what Steve Hood has said to you. There are lots of stutterers and former stutterers "out there" for whom speech therapy was never sought or, in some cases, never needed. Many of these individuals, as Steve pointed out, have made good adjustments such that stuttering is just one more of the big or little misfortunes that happen to people which can be overcome. It's too bad there are not more books, television shows, or films that portray stuttering as merely a uniqueness-- something that could be used to describe the person--but not become the usual fearsome, unhappy circumstance that so often is portrayed.
VERY IMPORTANTLY, none of my comments should be construed to imply that if a person IS fearful of, overwhelmed by, and/or highly affected by his or her stuttering, then there is something wrong with this person. Stuttering can be absolutely devastating and can handicap a person as much as all but the most dreaded diseases. It is simply the case that some people, by virtue of the values imparted by their families, friends, or societies or by their own unique abilities to adapt, or even by luckily stumbling upon effective self-management techniques are able to overcome on their own that for which other need help. It is really no different than adjustments some people have to chronic pain. Some manage well on their own; some do not. There is nothing wrong with either.
Let me take this opportunity to mention some research I have been doing for the past three years. My students and I have been asking stutterers, former stutterers, and parents of current or former stutterers to simply "tell their stories." The interviews are fascinating! I am working on a number of qualitative means of analyzing the enormous amount of information I have collected (e.g., from 100 adults who stutter or used to stutter). Many of these individuals never sought nor had any speech therapy and yet recovered fully. Others were just like the person you described: well adjusted with stuttering. As I look at the data, one thing is becoming increasingly clear to me. The somewhat negative picture we have of adult stuttering from our clinical research and textbook accounts is probably skewed toward the group who is not able to manage the problem on their own. Any why not? This is the group that seeks our services.
What we need to remember is that there is more to stuttering than the common clinical experience of SLPs. I hope to shed more light on that in the next year or two.
Good question, Theresa! Please pass my "tip of the hat" to your friend who clearly knows something about learning to live with stuttering that I did not know as stutterer in high school.
Ken