Covert Stuttering
I’ve been thinking a lot about the idea of “covert” stuttering. Although I never considered myself covert (I thought “there’s no point trying to hide something so obvious”), I keep wondering how often people think a stutterer is “cured” — when really they’re covert.
Not to get political (hah), but US President Joe Biden is such a GOOD EXAMPLE of the way covert stuttering can look. I think President Biden might consider himself cured. If we measure fluency itself as the “success”, if we physically count the number repetitions as our measure… then sure, covert stutterers are “cured”. This is how a lot of “cures” in the fluency world are advertised. The stutter itself is hidden from others.
But we know that is not all stuttering is. Which is why counting the number of times someone has repetitions is an unacceptable way to view speech therapy treatments. Often times, fellow stutterers can see a covert stutterer. The way I watch President Biden word swap at frankly embarrassing times… the way I hear the panic in his voice when it doesn’t work. I can see the stuttering. But to the rest of the world, it’s something else. His stutter was cured, right?
Covert stutterers do not have a responsibility to stutter in front of people. They are doing what they think is best and easiest. But the mental and emotional exhaustion is REAL. Which is why “covert” stuttering is not the “cure” you want. Not for you or your kids or your clients.
If a covert stutterer is saying what they want to say - then it’s a win. If an overt stutterer is saying what they want to say - then it’s a win. Success is not in the number of blocks or repetitions.
We need to be teaching that success looks like: are you saying the things you want to say? Do you spend time with people you want to spend time with? Are you taking these classes because it’s what you want most? How exhausted do you feel after each conversation you have? Is it sustainable?
Out the door with metrics. Which is scary. How can we know something works if we can’t count the results or show it on a graph? I think researchers are figuring this out- but let’s not waste time. Reframe our goals.
