This article first appeared in the Fall 2009 issue of the CSA Newsletter.

Many treatment options are available for people who stutter. What follows are my personal opinions on this topic — based on my experiences, which may well differ from your own.My personal views do not represent the views of the Canadian Stuttering Association, of which I’m a co-founder. CSA neither endorses nor rejects any particular approach to dealing with stuttering.

I stuttered severely as a child starting at age 6. At times, I could not get out any words at all. The “h” sound, in particular, often stopped me in my tracks. Sometimes, after a prolonged struggle to say “hello,” I would hang up the phone without having said a word. On many (but not all) levels, I lived outside of the mainstream of life, and felt discouraged about my prospects.

I had stuttering-modification therapy in Montreal in my early twenties. I attended a Toronto fluency-shaping clinic at age 30. At age 41, I spent three weeks in Edmonton at an integrated program which included fluency-shaping.
I’ve tried many things that did not work including the Doman-Delacato patterning “therapy” and Neuro-Linguistic Programming. I believe strongly that an evidence-based approach is essential when considering the options available to us. Show me solid evidence that a given approach works on a long-term basis, in everyday situations, for a majority of stutterers. Show me results published in peer-reviewed professional journals. Otherwise, I am not interested.