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From: Stef J (SLP Grad Student)
Date: 18 Oct 2008
Time: 15:41:45 -0500
Remote Name: 96.42.1.102
Hi Joes, Thank you for writing this article and sharing your views about such a relevant and controversial issue in the area of fluency. I'm an SLP grad student, and also a person who stutters. I'm currently working with a child fluency client, and have worked once before with an adult fluency client. Though my experience is rather limited, I must say that I agree a hundred percent that a person does not need to be a stutterer in order to help their client, and that being a stutterer can be a negative if you allow it to be. I feel this way because before majoring in Com Dis I underwent therapy with multiple student clinicians at my university's Communicative Disorders Center, and none of them, to my knowledge, stuttered. However, every single one of them (and there had to be about 8, sometimes working in pairs and sometimes solo) displayed all the necessary characteristics of a clinician and formed a positive therapeutic relationship that fostered motivation and progress on my part. All without having ever stuttered. I agree with Joe K about how as a clinician who stutters, if you too frequently incorporate your own fluency experiences into the therapy session than you turn the client into the clinician and yourself into the client. It's unethical and unprofessional, though most likely well-meaning. And each person is an individual, and their stuttering behaviors and experiences are just as individual as they are. For that reason, you can never really claim to understand what the client is going through. Genuine empathy is all that can ever be expressed, and this can be done regardless if you stutter. Lastly, thank you for mentioning the example of the grad student and the father (sounds like a title of an Aesop fable...), which is something I've always feared would happen to me. Luckily, I'm surprisingly fluent while working with kids, but nontheless, thank you for pointing out that there is an underlying message or concern behind the parent's words. Though I'm not sure how I would react in that situation, I hope it would be non-defensive and tactful, addressing the underlying concern. This article has definitely gotten me thinking about ways to respond. Thanks for the great insights!