Voluntary Stuttering
My name is Kiera and I am currently in my second year of graduate school to be a speech-language pathologist. I am taking a class on stuttering, and while it has been interesting to learn about the basics of stuttering in class, I’m really enjoying learning more about the stuttering community through all of the wonderful posts for ISAD. As a part of the course, we completed a project on voluntary stuttering where we had to stutter in various settings while speaking to strangers and then reflect on the experiences. The whole time I was completing the project, I felt as if I was appropriating experiences or feelings that weren’t mine to have. Obviously, it isn’t the same as being a person who stutters, and I found myself wondering how people who stutter would feel about us completing this project. So I have two questions that I was hoping to have answered:
- How do you feel about voluntary stuttering projects being completed by people who don’t stutter for the purposes of gaining even a little bit of insight into the stuttering experience?
- One of the settings we had to complete was talking to some kind of virtual assistant or voice-to-text feature while stuttering. Google assistant… did not perform well for me when I completed the project. What are your experiences with using these kinds of tools as a people who stutter?
Hi Kiera!
I personally do not have an issue with voluntary stuttering projects being done by people who do not stutter as any type of insight you can gain from doing something like that would be beneficial for someone who is becoming an SLP. Empathy is an important trait to have when choosing a career that involves working with people and the more empathy you have, the better. I can understand why you would feel like you are appropriating feelings like that but I think that kind of experience would be very beneficial to have.
I have not used many voice-to-texts or virtual assistances personally as I find they can be very frustrating to use. It makes you feel like you have to rush and avoid stuttering to get what you want, which can make stuttering worse.
Matt
Don’t feel bad about voluntary stuttering, it’s a part of your education and it’s valuable for you to experience it. Any insight that you can gain from that is worth it.
I have google home and it’s very difficult for me to use, I generally just use it as a speaker and control it from my phone. The lights in my bedroom on controlled by it/the app so often times I’ll ask my partner to do the speaking to turn off the lights.
Thanks Kiera for asking questions many wonder, but never asked.
I think it’s good for people who don’t stutter to try it. To feel society’s time pressure, see the look on the listener’s face, feel the stress when there’s a queue, etc. If the assignment is done to really understand, and not to proof that we’re better off to be “cured”, I think it’s a good thing. If this is being done with a PWS, maybe explain to the people who don’t have patience, fill in, and react in a negative way, how you can deal with these people and situations.
I’m the “mother” of a big 3 year Swedish project on the problems we face with answering machines, GPS, Siri, smart TV, etc. I myself love to challenge hurdles, so I even tried to “teach” my devices to understand me. I also use speech to text (as I have other diagnoses that makes it hard for me to type longer texts) and at the same time use it as speech training. 🙂 I try what helps to make it understand what I’m saying, so speak slower, articulate better, pausing for comma’s, etc. So again, when used in a positive way, challenging yourself (but all depending if the client wants to try it to build confidence), I think it can be helpful. Also check out WithVR that is an AI tool to put yourself in a surrounding that’s almost for real, and test giving a speech, interacting with people, job interview, etc.
If you want to know more about the project you can reach me through scatsis@gmail.com.