About Me
Approximately six months ago I made a conscious life decision to deal with my problem with stuttering. I have stuttered all my life and it has a significant, almost always detrimental, effect on it and some of my life decisions. I attended a speech therapist briefly approximately ten years ago, but I didn't find I was getting much out of it and there were no self-help groups operating in my area at the time.
Since I made the decision to deal with my stuttering I have found a local self-help group and am shortly about to go on a one-week residential course to dealing with my stuttering. However, I believe that to effectively deal with my stuttering problem is a personal quest, and while self-help groups and residential courses can be massively helpful, the only person who can really deal with the issue with any kind of finality is myself.
About this site
This site is part of my personal programme of therapy. It gathers together most of the research I have been actively pursuing over the last few months, and also includes some theories of my own I have been developing. I must stress the proviso that many of the programmes described on this site are my interpretation of how they operate as I do not have personal experience of many of them. Readers are advised to research the programmes themselves rather than reach any conclusions solely based on my interpretations. Many of the methodologies have been summarised in my own words, which I hope makes them more comprehensible, and I must offer my apologies if they have the opposite effect!
As this website was devised to develop in tandem with my personal programme of therapy, I am hoping that the content will be iterative, and thus could change based on what I learn at a personal level through what I hope will be a recovery process. I must also state that my personal view, at this point in time, is that it is possible to cure a stutter, and that it is possible to do much more than develop a system of coping mechanisms. Again, I may find out that I am proved wrong, and thus the content of the website will change to reflect this if necessary. Visitors should check Recent Updates on the homepage for the latest content changes.
While this website is starting off as a personal project, I would be pleasantly suprised if it took on a life of its own and encompassed the views and experiences of other people who are either working with or dealing with the problem of stuttering. This is one of the reasons I have not included my own name on the site as at present. As such, all feedback is appreciated and the website can be contacted at batalosweb_at_yahoo.com (replace the _at_ with @).
Some words on context
A lot of the theory on stuttering in this site is derived from the writings of Joseph Sheehan, specifically the magnum opus he edited on the topic, Stuttering: Research and Therapy, which is dominated by his own chapters. Many of the various treatments for stuttering that have developed over the last couple of decades borrow extensively from his ideas: particularly that of the iceberg theory and voluntary stuttering, though others before and after him have also described comparable approaches. His approach has been described as avoidance reduction. The theory being that the main causes of stuttering are what the stutterer does to try and avoid it. Stutterers are encouraged to stutter more than less, but in a manner then are comfortable with, and where they are in control of it as much as possible. They are encouraged to voluntarily stutter when they are speaking fluently. This leads to the stutterer becoming more at ease with their stuttering and eventually to greater overall fluency.
Credit must also be given to his wife Vivian who worked with him closely over the years and took over his work upon his premature death. Vivian Sheehan edited a very useful summary of the Sheehan methodology which is available as an e-book (see links).
I have great respect of Mr. Sheehan but have taken issue with some of ideas, such as his role theory and his view that stuttering is not a condition. This is only a personal view and is given in the spirt of the non partisan nature I hope this site will be perceived. Despite some contention about some of his ideas, I strongly subscribe to the vast majority of what he says and would encourage people to read more about his ideas themselves.
I also propose examine other subjects which arguably may have some connection with stuttering, including selective mutism and Social Anxiety Disorder. The fact that these issues are being discussed is not to imply that there is a definitive link, but I believe that there are some common issues, specifically with Social Anxiety Disorder, which it may be useful to investigate.
Batalos March 2007 - June 2007 e.v.