Clinician preparation: Experiences with pseudostuttering: “It was the longest day of my life!”

The response of lay persons to pseudostuttering in approximately 200 spontaneous communication situations were reported and evaluated by 24 graduate students in an advanced class in fluency disorders. The students each spent a day as a “stutterer” in all speech contacts. They summarized their pseudo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of fluency disorders 1990-10, Vol.15 (5), p.305-315
Main Author: Ham, Richard E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biological and medical sciences
Health staff related problems. Vocational training
Medical sciences
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Social psychiatry. Ethnopsychiatry
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Summary:The response of lay persons to pseudostuttering in approximately 200 spontaneous communication situations were reported and evaluated by 24 graduate students in an advanced class in fluency disorders. The students each spent a day as a “stutterer” in all speech contacts. They summarized their pseudostuttering efforts, the perceived auditor reactions, and their own feelings, in each situation. Results indicated that most lay reactions to any stuttering behavior were, at best, neutral or characterized by obvious changes in behavior. Many reactions were overtly and strongly negative. Student reactions were consistently ones of anxiety, fear, the desire to avoid, frustration, and irritation. Feelings of anger and humiliation were common. Discussion of results points out the value of pseudostuttering experience in clinician training, the possible importance of attitude and adjustment consideration in management of clients who stutter, and the apparent failure of (and need for) our profession to educate the lay public about communicative disorders.
ISSN:0094-730X
1873-801X
DOI:10.1016/0094-730X(90)90044-S