 About the Author:Manon Spruit, MSc, has been a speech therapist for almost 30 years and is specialized in stuttering and cluttering. She has a private practice that is specialized in stuttering and cluttering and has taught at several universities of applied sciences and schools for speech and language therapy. She presented at (international) conferences, gives workshops and seminars and cooperated with several German self help groups. |
This theme really speaks to me. Maybe a person who stutters is a great listener, but I like to listen to the person who stutters. It made me a better therapist. We as therapists are often called the experts when it comes to stuttering. I do not agree at all! The only experts are the people who stutter and live it everyday! We can and SHOULD learn so much from them. Listening to the people who asked for my help, listening to the friends I made at the conferences I attended, it made me a better therapist, because I learned what they want.
Do they really WANT what we think they want?? Do we have to tell them what is best for them? I don’t think so! If we listen to them we can hear what they want!
Almost every single person that comes into my therapy room, asking for my help, says he/she wants to speak fluently, find a cure, get rid of their stuttering and/or recover from stuttering. But let’s listen to it! Is it really fluency they want?? Do they really want to get rid of the stuttering? Or do they want to get rid of the struggle? It reminds me of an 8-year old boy that drew a car with his family and his stuttering in it. When I asked him what he had drawn and why, he explained that his stuttering was somehow a friend. And he didn’t want to lose a friend.
Maybe the stuttering is not necessarily a friend, but is it the opposite they want? Do they want to be fluent or is there more behind this wish? I think, if we listen closely, we will hear what they really want.
- I want to be a better communicator
- I want to be able to talk to my friends
- I want to go dancing
- I want to order what I really want to have
- I want to belong
- I want to be happy
- I want to be proud of myself
- I want to be able to ask or answer a question
- I want to be heard
- I want to be an artist
- I want to feel secure
- I want to be respected
- I want to have friends
- I want to have fun with my friends
- I want to feel good about myself
- I want to be understood
- I want to participate
- I want to say what I want to say
- …..
The list goes on and on. And are all of these things possible if you stutter! I think they are!
We hear the saying “Nothing about us, without us” a lot. And it is so important!!
Listening to all those wonderful people and listening to what they really want is so important!
And still we see research being done where the frequency of stuttering is used as a means to see if a therapy is effective. What does this way of measuring really tell us? If someone is struggling really hard, hiding his stutter, we will not hear and not count it. Is this person’s speech better?? Well, maybe the speech is, but the struggle is only harder. And we don’t measure it, but write that the therapy approach is a successful one, because the frequency decreased…..
And what is meant by “cure” or “recovery”. Is that when we do not hear any stuttering or is it when someone says what he wants to say, when he wants to say it and how he wants to say it?
Let’s use all the knowledge we can gain from all these great people; let’s listen and use their knowledge to become better researchers and better therapists.
Manon,
Thank you so much for this amazing paper that made me look at stuttering therapy from a different perspective! As a future SLP, this information is very useful, and I agree with how important it is to just listen and open our ears to the knowledge of these individuals because they are the experts, and we can learn so much from them.
Thank you, Alayna. I have learned so much from my friends and clients who stutter! I hope you will from the people you get to know as well.
-Manon-
This post is such a profound reminder of the importance of truly listening to the people we work with. As a graduate clinician, I resonate with the idea that the individuals who stutter are the true experts of their own experiences. Your perspective on focusing less on fluency and more on the underlying desires—whether it’s to feel confident, be understood, or simply connect with others—has shifted my own understanding of what therapy should aim to achieve. Thank you for emphasizing the importance of listening and learning from the people we serve. It’s a message that will stay with me throughout my career!
I am so happy, that it will stay with you! I think it is the best way to become a better therapist. Listen to every indivdual and see what you can achieve together.
I wish you a lot of the great experiences I have had during my career.
-Manon_
Hi Manon,
What a great article! As a covert pws, I find myself very much in your words about effort and cure. Sometimes it is difficult to explain how the experience of stuttering is something much more complex than what is externally perceived, and I am very glad that these concepts are also critically analyzed by speech therapists.
Hi Andrea, it’s nice to hear from a PWS as well. Stuttering is indeed very complex, but it is so great if you can find a way together, a way that makes the world for the PWS a bit better. Unfortunately there are still therapists that don’t see it like this, but I hope this article helps to get that word out.
-Manon-
Hi Manon
Thank you so much for writing this very important paper. To me, it is important since the traditional purpose of therapy for stuttering is being challenged. You ask “what is meant by “cure” or “recovery”. Is that when we do not hear any stuttering or is it when someone says what he wants to say, when he wants to say it and how he wants to say it?”. This is THE crucial question. And the answer is that “recovery” is when the person says what they want to say, irrespective of the stuttering. The stuttering is not the problem; the hiding is the problem. Thank you for bringing this message to prominence.
Hanan
Dear Hanan,
Thank you for your words. I think what I listed is what every human being really wants. It does not matter if they stutter or not. and it isn’t about how we talk. The real goal is hidden deeper than that. I thought it was important for others who haven’t thought about it, should hear this.
-Manon-
Hi Manon!
I loved reading your paper. I think it’s very important to listen to PWS when they talk and I found it very helpful that you talked about how it’s better to listen and learn what the client wants vs. go with what we as the therapist think or assume they want. As a second year graduate student, I wanted to get your advice on how we as therapists can shift our focus from solely measuring fluency and frequency of stuttering to prioritizing the lived experiences and desires of those who stutter in order to provide more effective and empathetic support?
Hi tahunter13,
That is a good question and the answer is in fact easy and fits this year’s theme: Just listen! Let them tell you what they really want! Listen to it with an open mind and think a bit deeper (together with your client). Of course some will say that they want to be fluent. What would change for them if they would speak fluent? Imagine to wake up the next day and you speak fluent? What would be different in your live? That is where we can get the answers and the real goals!
I have never seen the importance of measuring and counting the disfluencies, especially if people are hiding their stutter. And thos, in fact, are often the people that have the hardest times with their stutter. And if I measure their disfluencies I won’t find any, because they hide them. The measurements would tell me there is noting wrong, but is that true?? No! The stutter are there, but we just do not see or hear them. But the struggle they have is there.
So, in my opinion it is better to look at the “real goals” that are behind wishing fluency. And if they can reach those, they can do whatever they want, saying, what they want to say, how the want to say it and when they want to say it.
I hope that answers your question.
-Manon-
Lieve Manon
You’re the therapist I wish I’d had when I was young, and the friend next door I wish you were now. You GET us. You laugh and cry with us, lift us up and push us, but only in the direction we want to go. I tell every SLP student that the first thing they should do is to ask and to listen, before even thinking of therapy. To first see the person before seeing the client. To not be ready with the solution before even knowing what the question is. YOU LISTEN. And stand with us to change the narrative of “fluency”, “bad stutter” and those hated counting of stuttered syllables. May you be the mentor of many future SLPs to come, as you change lives. Love you tons!
Keep them talking, and keep telling them!
Anita
Lieve Anita,
Again you brought tears to my eyes. Grateful tears, because it warms my heart and I am so happy to call you “my friend”. Stuttering brought us together!
every human being is an individual to me and I want to treat them like I would like to be treated. I moght have a ton of knowledge, but I am not the expert. Those living with their stuttering are! And it is so important to listen to them. Not only for them to reach their real goals, but also for the SLP to hear what works and what doesn’t.
I might change lives, but stuttering and the people I got to know have changed mine! Love you tons right back!
And I will sure keep them talking, because that is what people (who stutter) love to do! and I love to listen to them.
Big hug!
-Manon-
I really enjoyed reading your paper! You highlighted everything as a future SLP I hope to offer all future clients and students, the ability to be heard how they want to be, not how we tell them they should be. We have been told in graduate school many times to look at the “whole person” not just the diagnosis code, but to go deeper and ask the questions, going beyond the fluencies and disfluencies. Taking the time to listen to what the patient/client truly wants and what their goals are. I think we want to “fix” everyone, and need to take a minute and truly listen to what they want “fixed”, or if they even want to. Thank you for your valuable insight on providing empathetic therapy!
Thank you, therancherswife. I am happy I was able to give you this motivation! You are right! We don’t have to fix people who stutter, because they are not broken!
Taking the time to listen is so worth it for the person who stutters and for the SLP as well. If you are able to do that, you will be a great therapist!
Good luck!!
-Manon-
Hi Manon! Thank you for the rewarding presentation! This gave me a new perspective on fluency intervention, prompting me to incorporate multiple levels of therapy (counseling, patient-centered treatment, etc.) to future clinical practice. I’m currently an SLP graduate student enrolled in Fluency Disorder. The information you provided, allowed to recognize the most important level of intervention -Listen! We need to ask
questions that go beyond the basics to fully understand our patients need and motivation for services!
Hi Rachel, I am so happy my article could show you how we can look at stuttering and the people that stutter. I am sure a lot of people will be happy with your new view and they will be ablr to say what they want to say, however they want to say it and whenever.
Good luck!
-Manon-