More on SLPs

I just want to make sure my posting is not misunderstood. IN NO WAY do I mean to imply
that SLPs are not in the best position to become stuttering therapists,
should they wish to do so (as most or all SLPs on this list obviously have).
They are probably also in the best position to diagnose speech problems.
The way I'd like to frame the discussion is "is there room for some who
are *exclusively* stuttering specialists", probably with an overlapping
but different background, and "how do we (both PWS and SLP) guard against
malpractice from both these hypothetical specialists and SLPs that choose
to treat stuttering.

To use an analogy, civil engineers are certainly best suited to become
good architects, yet, while overlapping, an architect's background
focuses on different aspects of construction. Good construction inevitably
requires BOTH sets of skills. Both professions have bodies that guard
both ethics and quality. A good architect also knows when to send
a client to an engineer and vice-versa.

Questions about the SLP profession

We talked about a stuttering specialization for SLPs. Now I want to ask
something that is bound to generate some heat ... can one become
a "stuttering specialist" WITHOUT becoming first an SLP? I am
interested in both issues of potential effectiveness as well as legality and
peer recognition.

First of all, I believe that there are already people in the profession
who are not SLPs and some are well known (am I right?). Whether or not
they are well regarded by SLPs is not the issue (or is it?). I simply wonder
whether it is really necessary to learn about other speech and hearing
impediments in order to become an effective stuttering therapist.

My reasons for asking are both "academic" and personal. On the academic side
is my belief that stuttering is fundamentally different from, say, aphasia,
and, as I expressed in other posts, studying neurology and psychology might
be actually more relevant to the stuttering problem. My personal reason
is simply that I have given thought to becoming a therapist but I am
exclusively interested in stuttering. Yes, one can pay "one's dues", but,
as anyone at my stage in life will attest, I feel I have already spent
most of my life "paying dues" and, at 50, I have very little patience
for dealing with stuff that doesn't go right to the core of what interests
me.

Granting that, to some extent, we always bring all of our background to bear in all our endeavors, how much of a typical SLP's academic and (non-stuttering)
therapy background REALLY comes to bear on stuttering therapy? How much
is "paying dues" (if you are only interested in stuttering)?

Blocking and the "Valsalva maneuver"

(In objection to blocking being caused by a stoppage of air-flow)

I once heard Bill's (Bill Parry) presentation. I was and still remain skeptical.
To me the "block" is in the "control system" that moves the
articulation along from one phoneme to another. It doesn't come
from "cutting off air". To use an analogy, suppose I am playing the
saxophone. One could stop me from going on with the music simply by plugging
up the air duct (Valsalva, if I understand correctly) or by paralizing my
fingers. But wouldn't sound still come out if I kept blowing with my
fingers paralized? That's where the analogy breaks down. In the case of speech,
"finger movement" would feed back (my educated guess) and determine how
much blowing is being done. So the whole system comes to a grinding halt,
but NOT because something just plugged up the air duct. I realize this
is mere speculation, and I am not sure if any therapeutic consequences
would come out of this, but it would be great to devise and experiment that
puts the issue to rest.

There is actually an observation that, IMO, puts the issue to rest. Some
blocks come with "sound" behind them! Unless I am dreaming, I have often heard
stuff like hmmmmmmmmm, hmmmmmmm, hmmmmmmPOLICY, for someone blocking
on the "P" of "policy". So air is actually flowing, just like it would be
for the "finger paralized" sax player.

I have pointed this out a few times on the list and never got an answer.
Will somebody please either agree with me or tell me why I am wrong?

One last point. I do NOT mean to carry the analogy to imply that some
form of vocal cord "paralysis" is the fundamental cause. Again it's the
sequence of articulatory commands from the brain that gets "stuck"
(my opinion and that of many).

Stuttering in a foreign language

In this post I was asked several interesting questions by Larry Molt. I will paraphrase his questions and post my answers

Yes, even though initially I was not recognized as a stutter I did experience stuttering exactly the same way I experienced it in Italian.


Yes, I experienced the same stuttering patterns (block etc.)


No, stuttering did not happen to the same extent as in Italian and it also went unrecognized because it was misinterpreted as a difficulty in speaking a foreign language. As you conjectured, I was also speaking slower, with shorter phrases, more pauses etc. probably reducing demand on my speech and therefore reducing stuttering.

Eventually the reason for lessened stuttering vanished with increasing "fluency" (yes, I was struck by the same conundrum!... more stutter the more "fluency" in the new language). Interestingly the first statement is true to this day. In my mind English, at this point, is actually easier than my native language, but I still do have a slight accent, and when I have one of my now rare blocks, people tend to think that "I'm hunting for the word". Given different situations I've had to choose between being thought of as
"just off the boat" or as a stutterer..

I think my experience does match yours (ironically, stuttering more with increased "fluency" in the foreign language). Interestingly it was also confirmed
in an acting class I took. As I was learning a part, I was better able to
avoid stuttering than when I had completely "interiorised it" and had begun
"being" the character I was portraying. The director asked me why I had chosen
to "make" the character stutter! He was baffled when I told him it had not
been an "acting" choice.

Is my child a stutterer?

Hi Woody,

My 3 1/2 year old child, is beginning to show occasional signs of "stuttering"
that go a bit beyond "normal" hesitations for that age. I am not overly
worried and he has shown no signs of frustration. He LOVES to talk and
his chatter is incessant and quite fun to hear. In the past I would have
just waited, but, given the information you have put on the list, I do
view him as "at risk" and I would like to have him undergo whatever
therapy might be appropriate at this point.

Is there any clinic/SPL in the San Francisco Bay Area, that would approach
this type of therapy along the lines you have been developing?

I'll appreciate any suggestions.

Stuttering in biligual children

Does the "capacity and demands" model imply a higher incidence of stuttering in bilingual children?

I am betting my own child's life experience on "no"! I think "demand"
refers to "speech mechanics" performance, not a knowledge of alternative
ways to say things. He is simply learning that mother says "milk" and
"papa'" says "latte", so when he talk to me he asks for "latte".

If I can use an analogy, would you worry about cognitive overload if you had
a vacation house and you child had to learn to find his way around two houses
instead of one? He would learn that the kitchen is on the left in house A and
on the right is house B. "Demand" would be equivalent to asking him/her to
move faster in either house...

I sure hope I am right...!

Why I joined the NSP

Ira Zimmerman commented that people who have largely overcome stuttering should perhaps form a separate organization (NSP stood for National Stuttering Project - the name was later changed to NSA)

granted that one could claim that "everything" we do is to meet some
need... I joined the NSP more to see if I could help than to find
"support" for a problem I felt I had largely overcome. Maybe this
was presumptious on my part, but it was my original motivation. It
turned out that I still received much more than I gave. Some of
what I received can be described as follows:
1. A sense of "coming home", embracing where I had been. Note that
until then I had always avoided other stutterers...! Interestingly I
had fully accepted (or so I thought) MY stuttering, but hearing others
stutter brought back too much pain... until I joined the NSP. This
was perhaps one more phase of healing I didn't know I needed.
2. Absolutely wonderful new friends. People like John Ahlbach and John
Harrison! And many others.... I see them rarely now, but when
I do it's like meeting family.
3. New and continuing insights on stuttering. Some that I am still
applying to myself, and some I can share with others (including
this list). On and off I toy with the idea of becoming a Stuttering
Therapist.
4. Surely much more than I am aware of.

"If you stutter you are not alone" is the NSP motto. I did grow up
"alone" and I wish I hadn't. The stuttering of each one of us takes
different paths, but none of us has to face it alone, ever again. I thought
I'd join to give support and embrace those who were still
struggling. It turns out that I embraced my "child" and that everyone
embraced me. Are you still puzzled Ira?