Hi Naomi

I’ve had very different kinds of SLPs. Some good, some not that good. I’ve had SLPs only focusing on my breathing, but as I play a wood instrument, that’s not where my problem lies. I also had an SLP who focused on the mental part. We had tea and talked. And when I didn’t improve and wanted to stop, she threw all my private stories back into my face, telling me I wasn’t willing to get rid of my stutter and that others were right, as I was only doing it to get attention… Those experiences leave scars. I also know of so called “therapists” that promise fluency in just 2-3 days. Of course they can promise that, for many of us can get fluent when we’re in a therapy session for 16hrs/day over a weekend. But when coming home, the environment doesn’t look that way. We don’t have our stutter buddies, we not always get time to talk, we meet people who don’t get it, and we keep being told we need to try harder, take deeper breath, speak slower, etc. So what happens to many is that they not only lost a lot of money (some people even take a bank loan!!), just to find themselves falling back into their stuttering pattern, and when they complain, they are told it’s their fault they are doing it wrong, so thank you and goodbye…

Luckily, those experiences were few, but I’m still very sensitive towards the word “fluency” and “overcoming”. The longer we’ve stuttered, the more layers we have gained. Experiences, cultural aspects, environment, personalities, etc. This means there’s so much more to stuttering that what happens in the speech related parts of the brain and in the muscles. There’s a lot going on in other parts of the brain, and in the heart as well. And it all needs to be addressed.

So SLPs who don’t see the whole picture, PWS who come for an instant cure, it’s not going to work. It’s the SLPs that listen and think out of the box, the PWS that are opening up and sharing their wants and needs, who, together, can make progress. Over a long period of time, being prepared for set backs, and constantly being ready to adjust the therapy road. SLPs that applaud speech instead of fluency, to make sure that, when there’s a set back, it’s not the end of the world, as the basic selfworth and stuttering pride is stable.

I’ve met so many amazing SLPs, that my bad experiences are just a learning experience, and the positive experiences make me (literally) embrace speech therapists who include all the different layers of stuttering.

Happy ISAD and keep them talking

Anita