Friday, November 03, 2006

Out with the stuttering boys

I just came back from drinks with the stuttering boys of Luxembourg. We talked about stuttering, its causes, and how we handle stuttering in our daily life. I talked about the latest research results and about Pagoclone. Einar thought that a therapy is better than medication, but I replied that this is true if it works but many cannot keep the progress on a long term basis. Adrien wondered whether people should maintain eye contact when someone is stuttering or not. We werent sure what is best.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hello, I am new to this site but have found the notion of a drug to help with stuttering a ray of hope. I am 55 y/o female and have stuttered my entire life. I also have battled with depression/bi-polar disease that I believe was inherited from my Mom. I have been on prosac/welbutrin for probably last 7 - 8 yrs. I could not be sure but it seems as though my stuttering has worsten or maybe I am just more aware of it more than ever, either way I am between a rock and a hard space. I am 7 mos shy of a Masters degree in nursing education and have been experiencing the greatest fear that I have nearly ever known. What was I thinking that I could get up in front of a class and not make a complete fool of myself. I am seriously considereing dropping this course of education. I have been a labor and delivery nurse for some 21 years and have much to offer but feel my affliction would prevent me from being effective. My concern would be that students would be so busy paying attention to my lack of fluency that the course content would get lost. Can you tell me if the drug "pagoclone" is available on the market? my e-mail is buckshot3940@hotmail.com

Anonymous said...

Hi I have been watching your website for awhile and the drug testing. I am actually based in Massachusetts where the Pharmaceutical company is located for Progoclone (spelt right?), let me know at dave@lookingaround.com if you ever need a person to go there for questions, I would help!

Anyhow, sorry for the book but I think people should maintain eye contact with stutterers and keep a confident calm look. I think if they look away you can feel that they are uncomfortable. I've been there.

Dave

Tom Weidig said...

Dear Toni,

the drug is not available yet until the Phase III trials are over.

Everyone of us who stutters had moments in his or her life where we wanted to give up on a dream because of our stuttering.

My answer is to keep on pressing ahead: are you in control of your life or your stuttering? After you finished your Master's, you can still decide whether teaching is for you or not.

You might want to contemplate "outing yourself" and talking in front of your fellow students and teachers about your stuttering.

Einar said...

"Adrien wondered whether people should maintain eye contact when someone is stuttering or not. We werent sure what is best."

Keeping eye-contact is essential (for both the stutterer and the "listener"). It underlines the fact that there is nothing to be ashamed of concerning stuttering, and that one can speak in a confident and effective way although one is stuttering while doing so...

Anonymous said...

Toni:

I realize this is a month old but I just saw this. You have to be insane to consider not progressing with your Nursing Masters -- literally crazy. I confronted the same challenges as a law student between 1990 and 1993. Who cares what people think. Its your life, stuttering or not, and you have to live it. Don't even consider quitting. Sure my legal career would be going better with fluent speech but I certainly do not regret my career choice, at least not becasue of my speech impediment. Throw caution to the wind, steele your backbone, and get on with it.

Greg Kenyon
Dayton, Ohio

Anonymous said...

We cannot say for sure if therapy is better than medication since there is a partial skepticism about the effectiveness of conventional therapies for stuttering so any mode of treatment or therapy can be quite tempting to someone with a speech impediment if it can vouch for sustainability in speech fluency.