I've received quite a few questions about stuttering, so I decided to quickly answer some of the most repeated ones:
"Is it helpful to
finish words/ sentences for a person who stutters?"
The answer
to this is almost always no. I’ve
met many people who stutter and only one of them has ever expressed the desire
for another person to complete their phrases. You can always ask, but you
should never assume that a person who stutters wishes for you to guess what
they’re saying. Many people interrupt with completely thoughtful intentions-
they want to help! The desire to try to lessen any awkwardness or shorten
another’s difficult struggle is definitely valid and a feeling that I myself
have had before. However, finishing someone else’s word or sentence usually
proves to be the opposite of helpful: you can disturb a train of thought, give
pressure, hurt feelings, portray a sense of impatience, or guess incorrectly
for instance.
Person A: “Where is the l-l-l-”
Person B: “Library?”
No, lobby, and now
they may have to start all over again.
"What is the cure for
stuttering?"
There is no “cure” for
stuttering. Some people grow out of it with age, others never do. Sometimes
speech therapy can improve fluency, sometimes it doesn’t. Whether or not a
stutter lessens over time is not a reflection of how hard a person has worked
on their speech. Some things work for some people and are completely useless
for another. Stuttering is unique.
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