Helping the Medical Community Understand Stuttering

Unfortunately, the medical community does not understand stuttering. After helping hundreds of PWS stop stuttering, I have been criticized and called a “charlatan” or a “despicable liar” because I have “no medical training” and used the word “cure” in my book title. Some in the medical community maintain that “stuttering is an incurable disease.” I am also chastised for not providing “scientific research” or “peer-reviewed studies” to prove that stuttering can be stopped.

Why don’t I offer scientific proof? As I often concede, I have zero medical training and know nothing about speech-language pathology or its practitioners. However, as best I can determine, the medical community—including speech-language pathologists and other speech-related experts—knows very little about stuttering. An estimated 90% of these experts have never stuttered, and the remaining 10% still do. Can someone who has never experienced alcohol, or an unrecovered alcoholic, truly understand and evaluate its cures?

Despite this, I am frequently told that my methods cannot be accepted without scientific research conducted by these experts, often in academic settings, on large groups of stutterers, and at my expense. The problem is that these experts do not understand stuttering and are unlikely ever to. My goal is not to gain approval from the medical community; my goal is to help PWS stop stuttering. Unlike the medical community, I have stuttered, and I know stuttering both as a stutterer and as someone who has conducted over 5,000 coaching sessions in the past five years alone. I know stutterers, and I know stuttering. Over 90% of those I have worked with extensively have stopped stuttering, and fewer than 5% have relapsed. Those who abandon our methods early, like quitting golf before mastering it, may relapse. Temporary relapses can occur when fears remain unconquered, but these are easily addressed once the stutter is controlled.

Can today’s speech experts evaluate my methods? I don’t believe so. One should not evaluate or teach a sport one has never played or plays poorly. Reading a rulebook does not substitute for experience and mastery. The blind cannot lead the blind, and the medical community is blind when it comes to stuttering. Stuttering is a language. You cannot teach a language you have never spoken or learned. The only experts qualified to evaluate or research methods to stop stuttering are those who have stuttered significantly, stopped their own stuttering, and learned to love speaking—as I and a growing number of my students have. No two PWS or stuttering patterns are identical. We select methods tailored to each individual. Hundreds of cases prove our approach works, and many PWS succeed without coaching, sometimes using only the book. Some need guidance; coaching is a creative process, constantly adapting to each student’s needs. The methods in this book are fluid. They adapt to fill speech gaps, but no two stutterers will use them exactly the same way. Coaches do not cure anyone. PWS cure themselves. Coaches teach; players play. Each PWS must apply what works best for them.

In sum, I do not believe the medical community or speech experts, as they exist today, can properly test these methods. I am indebted to Paul Brocklehurst, Ph.D., and Matt O’Malley, SLP-A, who have defended my methods and explained the complexities and costs of scientific speech research. I lack the time, money, and need to pursue such studies. My methods work—period. Visit our Speech Hall of Fame to see the results for yourself.

I will continue to devote my time to coaching speech-sufferers, helping them stop stuttering, and teaching them to love speaking. Scientific research is best left to those who enjoy it. Meanwhile, PWS finally have a community of EX-stutterers to learn from, grow with, and stop stuttering: the World Stop Stuttering Association. Enjoy it, take advantage of it, and live a fluent life. It’s yours for the taking.