Announcing 'Stammering Research' - Stammering Research - UCL

Stammering Research. Vol. 1.
running a meeting. Do therapists view this activity as their role or remit that they could competently
carry out? If not whose job would this be?
The questionnaire to 200 course participants, in another part of the research, reveals a wide range of
problem areas with 18% stating they have difficulty understanding large amounts of spoken
information; 39% suggesting they have problems in pronunciation and 40% revealing their struggles in
expressing spoken ideas clearly and in order (Sage, 1998). John, one of the case studies, elaborates on
this:
‘When I reflect on my stammer, I view it as a disturbance of thinking as well as
speaking. My thoughts are tangled and will not unravel so that they can be voiced
smoothly’.
Non-verbal difficulties are also apparent, with 37% reporting problems with eye contact, 36% feeling
they do not use adequate facial expressions to support word meaning and 37% suggesting inadequate
use of their voice when speaking expressively (Sage, 1998).
Such remarks are suggestive of a multi-level involvement in communication activities. Some of the
available analytic acoustic and linguistic computer programmes may be effective in developing a more
detailed profile of an individual’s behaviour to help with the speech and language aspects of the
problem. Onslow et al’s (1992) studies have been useful in pinpointing acoustic changes in the speech
of adult clients who stammer, after they have received treatment. Similarly, electroencephalographic
studies of the brain, positron emission tomography and magnetic resonance imaging, allow us to track
the electrical activity in the cortex and follow the moment-to-moment changes in neuronal movements,
so giving a reliable picture of the mind’s workings. Comparing what happens in the brain when people
are fluent and dysfluent indicates an important step forward in research. It may enable us to target
management more precisely. When a person becomes a non-stammerer it seems as if they assume a
new identity. Changes occur which must be possible to identify. Why is it that they are, on average,
fluent for 75% of the time? Looking at their periods of fluency may be just as useful as examining
dysfluent phases. In depth study of a number of cases, investigating such issues, may precipitate new
directions in management and provide a clearer understanding of the pattern of fluency and non-fluency
in speaking.
A more detailed profile of the client’s profile of thinking, language and social behaviour, therefore,
would enable a clearer understanding of how these facets alter after treatment. It may be possible to
isolate core elements in behaviour and target them in different ways. For example, is one stress reducer
such as NLP or hypnotherapy more effective than another for clients showing particular profiles? Are
some components more suited to self-organised learning than others? If so how can they be usefully
supported? Breathing techniques seem more difficult to acquire than slow speaking. Do these need a
particular follow-up? Would video/audio/written guides be useful in the post course phase? Looking at
such issues may help to decide more precisely those that benefit from certain approaches and those who
do not. This high-level expertise on the part of therapists is only acquired over time so that structured
decision-making tools are important to develop.
Normal appearances in social interaction
Problems that people with stammers face lie not just in the individual’s biological and psychological
make-up but in the mass we commonly refer to as society. Interaction between members of society is
maintained on the basis of ‘normal appearances’, (Goffman, 1971) which are images and actions,
which we, as individuals, commonly recognise as standard for the context. These ‘normal
appearances’ include the correct demeanour towards other people, style of dress and the acquisition of
smooth, competent speech.
It is the maintenance of these ‘normal appearances’, which produces stammering. For example,
dysfluency to many elicits an uneasy response, not because they are ashamed of their speaking, or
concerned about the opinion of others, but in particular situations, such as interviews, people who do
not stammer will judge by appearances and not by the content of the person.
Rosenhan’s (1973) study; ‘On being Sane in Insane places’, demonstrates the ways in which people
are required to conform to the pressures of society. He placed a number of students in mental hospitals
and found they soon acquired characteristics of the mentally ill, demonstrating the pressures that
‘normal appearances’ place on us in any given context. This is further elucidated in Lemert’s (1972)
research on the coastal Indians of the North Pacific. Amongst these people, Lemert found that oral
communication was the most highly regarded skill in that society. Anyone with a stammer was heavily
chastised and jeered. In one case, the dysfluent person was banished from the group.
Although our society does not show this harsh response to stammering, it still fails frequently to
judge people on their merits and tends to sympathise with those who are dysfluent or refuses to
acknowledge their worth. Respondents tell how they have been laughed at when they repeat sounds or
block on words. In trying to keep up ‘normal appearances’, Travers (1994) maintains they are ‘strange
to themselves’ in order to be recognised as competent communicators. We present ourselves to people
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