On Tue, 9 Feb 1999, Dr. Joyce Johnson wrote:
> Dr Ronald Webster at Hollins College in Roanoke Va is a world reknown
> expert on stuttering and its treatment. You may reach the Hollins
> Communication Institute at 540-362-6528
> His basic discovery was that stutterers have a neuronal/ motoric delay in
> transmission of internal feedback from the vibration of the vocal chords to
> the inner ear. (That is why stutterers don't stutter when they listen to
> delayed feedback).He facilitates that transmission by an electronic device
> that sends the feedback faster plus teaches a technique of gradual onset of
> speech sounds. Gradual onset explains the curious finding that stutterers
> don't stutter when they sing. The training, based on empirical research and
> learning principles, takes 3 weeks and the combination of "device" plus
> training "cures" over 90% of clients. It is amazing.
Whereas this technique can create speech fluency,they do little to
help the stutterer manage stuttering when it surprises the speaker.
I favor the approach of modifying stuttering behavior as it happens.
The Hollins and other fluency shaping devices seem to concentrate
on creating a new speech pattern for the stutterer,which may have
the effect of reinforcing "there is something wrong with my
speech".
I believe that there is nothing wrong with the stutterer's speech
mechanism.I consider stuttering simply as speech blocking behavior.
Therapy should be directed at managing blocks, not shaping speech
fluency.
Israel Goldiamond used the DAF(Delayed Auditory Feedback) to establish
fluency,but this approach was not too successful.
I do not buy the hemispheric and the physiological stuff.
Michael Sylvester
