My Client Knows That He’s About to Stutter: How Can We Address Stuttering Anticipation during Therapy with Young People Who Stutter?

Authors

Eric S. Jackson, New York UniversityFollow
Hope Gerlach, University of IowaFollow
Naomi H. Rodgers, University of Nebraska - LincolnFollow
Patricia M. Zebrowski, University of IowaFollow

Date of this Version

2018

Citation

Seminars in Speech and Language, 39(4), 356-370.

Comments

Copyright # 2018 by Thieme Medical Publisher. Used by permission.

Abstract

Stuttering anticipation is endorsed by many people who stutter as a core aspect of the stuttering experience. Anticipation is primarily a covert phenomenon and people who stutter respond to anticipation in a variety of ways. At the same time as anticipation occurs and develops internally, for many individuals the “knowing” or “feeling” that they are about to stutter is a primary contributor to the chronicity of the disorder. In this article, we offer a roadmap for both understanding the phenomenon of anticipation and its relevance to stuttering development. We introduce the Stuttering Anticipation Scale (SAS)—a 25-item clinical tool that can be used to explore a client’s internal experience of anticipation to drive goal development and clinical decision making.We ground this discussion in a hypothetical case study of “Ryan,” a 14-yearold who stutters, to demonstrate how clinicians might use the SAS to address anticipation in therapy with young people who stutter.