May 26, 2012

On Acceptance, from Dr Sheehan

I found this very relevant passage, from Dr Sheehan, a pws and an authority on speech therapy for pws in USA:
Acceptance of the problem belongs at the start of therapy, not at the finish. It is the role that the stutterer must accept, not the old stuttering pattern. That is what the stutterer entered therapy to eliminate! If he should be asked to accept the old pattern, then he should not have been asked to undertake therapy. To promote “acceptance” at the end of the venture to excuse clinician failure or method failure is an outrage. We need not accept what we can change—and the person who stutters can change. If he had wanted to “accept”, not for the purpose of enabling change, but in order to remain as he was when he came in, then he would not have come. When a clinician heaps blame on the stutterer at the end of therapy, then the client’s hopes have been abused.  More.

It is the role that the stutterer must accept, not the old stuttering pattern.  TISA would say the same thing like this: Accept that you stammer but dont accept poor communication. Keep working on communication skills..

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