Connery Amy, Constantino Christopher D
Department of Clinical Speech & Language Studies, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland.
School of Communication Science & Disorders, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, USA.
Int J Lang Commun Disord. 2025 Jul-Aug;60(4):e70082. doi: 10.1111/1460-6984.70082.
Despite the literature highlighting the mostly negative impact of stuttering on an individual's life, there is emerging evidence alluding to an alternative and more advantageous experience for some adults who stutter. Features of this alternative experience include enhanced interpersonal relationships and increased sensitivity to others. Investigation of such favourable by-products of stuttering is lacking in the literature, and in order to comprehensively understand the lived experience of stuttering for all individuals, such exploration is required.
This article aims to theoretically explore stuttering's capacity to enhance a person's cultivation of loving relationships, and relationships more generally, with others.
This aim is achieved through a broad discussion on the meaning of love, and, more specifically, through the examination of the concept of vulnerability as a fundamental component that underpins a robust loving relationship. The role of stuttering as an act of vulnerability that has the capacity to enhance the relationships experienced by people who stutter is proposed.
This paper serves as a novel conversation on the potential for stuttering to enhance a person's cultivation of robust relationships. It continues the discourse that challenges traditional deficit-based perspectives of stuttering and presents an alternative narrative of stuttering that can shape our research and clinical practices.
The advantageous by-products of stuttering, such as the role that stuttering plays in enabling and enhancing relationships, require further exploration. A range of clinical recommendations is outlined in order to support clients' enactment of vulnerability and enhancement of their relationship experiences.
What is already known on the subject The research-based literature highlights the mostly negative impact that stuttering has on an individual's life. More recent evidence, however, indicates an alternative experience for some adults who stutter, with advantageous by-products of stuttering such as enhanced interpersonal relationships being reported. What this paper adds to existing knowledge This paper discusses the potential for stuttering to enhance a person's cultivation of robust relationships. Early and contemporary theories of love are discussed, and one fundamental component of love, vulnerability, is examined. Stuttering is proposed as being as an act of vulnerability, thus enabling and enhancing relationships. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work? Speech and language therapists (SLTs) are recommended to support clients to self-disclose, offer therapies that aim for authenticity and the reduction of concealment, and encourage clients to engage with stuttering support groups.
尽管文献强调口吃对个人生活大多产生负面影响，但越来越多的证据表明，一些成年口吃者有着不同的、更为有利的体验。这种不同体验的特征包括人际关系的增进以及对他人敏感度的提高。文献中缺乏对口吃这种有利副产品的研究，为了全面了解所有口吃者的生活体验，需要进行此类探索。
本文旨在从理论上探讨口吃在增强一个人与他人建立亲密关系以及更广泛人际关系方面的能力。
这一目标通过对爱的含义进行广泛讨论来实现，更具体地说，通过审视脆弱性这一概念，它是稳固亲密关系的一个基本要素。本文提出，口吃作为一种脆弱行为，有能力增强口吃者所经历的人际关系。
本文开启了一场关于口吃在增强一个人建立稳固关系方面潜力的全新讨论。它延续了挑战传统口吃缺陷观的论述，并提出了一种可塑造我们研究和临床实践的口吃新观点。
口吃的有利副产品，比如口吃在促成和增进人际关系中所起的作用，需要进一步探索。本文概述了一系列临床建议，以支持客户展现脆弱性并提升他们的人际关系体验。
关于该主题已知的信息 基于研究的文献强调口吃对个人生活大多产生负面影响。然而，最新证据表明一些成年口吃者有不同体验，报告显示口吃存在如增进人际关系等有利副产品。本文对现有知识的补充 本文讨论了口吃在增强一个人建立稳固关系方面的潜力。文中讨论了早期和当代的爱情理论，并审视了爱情的一个基本要素——脆弱性。本文提出口吃是一种脆弱行为，从而促成并增进人际关系。这项研究潜在或实际的临床意义是什么？建议言语和语言治疗师（SLTs）支持客户进行自我表露，提供旨在实现真实和减少掩饰的治疗方法，并鼓励客户参与口吃支持小组。
