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From: Dale Williams
Date: 10/12/01
Time: 7:15:37 AM
Remote Name: 209.215.55.173
Hello again. When I saw the subject line of ‘A counterquestion for Dale’ I knew I had a pretty good shot at being the first to respond.
Regarding your question “...do you think it makes a difference stuttering on a specific word rather than on any other in a sentence?” I should have specified that I was referring to stuttering modification therapy in which the focus is developing easier stuttering (and not eliminating stuttering). So yes, you are right: It’s still stuttering. But it does make a difference because one is manageable stuttering, the other uncontrolled.
As for your other question (how to move the stutter), here’s an example of what I meant. If I tell someone “I was born in Detroit,” I visualize stuttering on the /d/ in the word “Detroit.” The only way I could stutter that word easily would be to do a relaxed bounce and say “Deh-deh-deh-detroit.” But if I’m not very good at or am uncomfortable with the technique of bouncing (both of which are pretty much true), I still have 2 choices. One is to use the hard and tense stutter that got me into therapy in the first place (“I was born in...[struggle, gasping, lost control]...DEHtroit”). The other is to use a different kind of easy stutter on a different word.
Remember, we’re working on the premise that a stutter is going to happen in this sentence. If I use an easy prolongation on “in” (“I was born iiiiiiin Detroit”), the stutter has occurred, but in a way that I dictated. I decided when and how I would stutter. I didn’t stop it, but I did manage it.
As I read over the last 2 paragraphs, I see a couple things I should clear up. No. 1: Is this an avoidance behavior? No, not if it’s an overt stutter. If I’m pretending to think and say, “...iiiiiin Detroit,” then I’m trying to hide my stuttering, which will lead to more problems down the road. What’s going on inside the speaker’s head is really a critical variable in these types of situations.
No. 2: Aren’t I just adding another stutter? That is, after I’ve prolonged “in” don’t I still have to contend with the fearsome “Detroit?” This may be true for some. For many, however, once the stutter is managed, the rest of the utterance can be too.
I hope this helps.
Dale