To be or not to be: Stuttering and the human costs of being "un-disabled".

Related Articles

To be or not to be: Stuttering and the human costs of being "un-disabled".

Int J Speech Lang Pathol. 2016 Feb;18(1):11-19

Authors: Watermeyer B, Kathard H

Abstract
PURPOSE: The centrality of communicating in human life means that communication difficulties are experienced at a deeply personal level and have significant implications for identity. Intervention methods may interact positively or negatively with these experiences.
METHOD: This paper explores this intersection in the case of stuttering, suggesting that some intervention styles may dovetail unhelpfully with the "mainstream" prizing of normalcy. In particular, most "western" societies offer a performance-oriented milieu which prizes efficiency, immediacy and competitiveness, diverting energy from the equally important work of understanding and integrating difference.
RESULT: Given that a person who stutters speaks fluently and with a stutter, stuttering can lean toward a complex view of disability identity-being both able and disabled. This split repertoire invites psychologically costly efforts at being "un-disabled".
CONCLUSION: Interventions which amplify this tendency can contribute to an alienation from self amid strivings for normalcy.

PMID: 28425362 [PubMed - in process]

http://ift.tt/2pQaFSI