Voluntary Stuttering
I am an undergrad student who recently did an exercise for class where I did voluntary stuttering. I definitely felt an intense hesitation and anxiety and understand that this is merely a drop in the ocean compared to what PWS go through. I am curious to know if there are any situations where you feel it would be inappropriate to prescribe this as a treatment for a PWS.
Dear Monica,
HI! Thanks for engaging and being an advocate for your education by learning more about stuttering.
There have been a few people who have asked a similar question (see questions in this forum for more information).
Teaching the skill of voluntary stuttering to PWS is another way to allow PWS to take ownership of their speech and begin to see they can make choices with how they want to communicate (for openers).
As SLPs is it our job to give our clients as much as we know and let them choose what feels write for them to create voice and speaking style they wish to communicate with. I have had several clients of all ages who try voluntary stuttering and not like it and then they later come back to it. I have had clients try and like it, and then later not use it or need. Some clients who try and just don’t like it. The bottom line is, we are providing education and options to people. If the like something, we can keep encouraging them to practice that skill. If they don’t like something we can say, “That is fine. Do you want to try again later? WE can always come back to anything and try again.”
Does that help? I will let me colleagues just in here too. I don’t want to write to much.
Thanks again! with compassion and kindness,
Scott
Hi Scott,
I too just did a project where I practiced voluntary stuttering. If there is constant anxiety surrounding a type of technique is it best to continue working with it or to try something new?
Courtney S.
Hi Monica,
Thanks so much for your question. I’m going to add my thoughts here – I also agree with Dr. Palasik – its important with any approach in therapy that you provide individuals with opportunities to practice and get a feel for if this is something that matches their personality, goals, preferences, etc. for how they want to manage their communication. Certainly, we would want to allow more than one opportunity to use a strategy and provide individuals with multiple opportunities to “try it out.” There are many strategies for making communication easier…it’s important to check in with clients whenever they are trying something new and see what they think and feel about the approach. Based on this conversation, we can make adjustments, as needed. Please let me know if you have any other questions, or if I can clarify anything.