No miracle cures: a multifactoral guide to stuttering therapy
Thomas David Kehoe
Casa Futura Technologies, 184 pages

Review: Sharon Daye (NHS Highland)

No Miracle Cures is a very ambitious book compiled by someone who stutters, Thomas David Kehoe, a member of the American Speech-Language Hearing Association, and is produced by his company. The author has gathered a large amount of research based on the assumption that stuttering is not caused by one big problem but by many small problems. No Miracle Cures claims to include the best treatments for children, teenagers, adults who stutter mildly, and adults who stutter severely - and to do all this in a mere 184 pages!

Intended to be a guide for people who stutter, parents, and speech and language therapists, it is very intensive and includes practical issues, numerous resources (organisations, books, websites), and suggests lots of ideas to try. A wide variety of relevant topics are covered, including electronic devices and stuttering at work, allowing the reader to dip into the sections that interest him/her most. Although comprehensive, the amount of attention given to certain topics is disproportionate as childhood stuttering is covered in one chapter but is almost the same length as the chapter about famous people who stutter!

Generally, the author uses simple, direct and jargon-free language; and includes numerous anecdotes (some of which are about the author) adding a humorous and personal aspect to the book. Readers should be aware that a considerable amount of the information presented is targeted towards the American reader. The tone of the book is quite informal, suggesting that it could be accessible to anyone; however, some of the information can be confusing as he tends to jump from one thing to another very quickly. As a result the text does not flow easily at times and some approaches are not fully discussed.

Chapters on delayed auditory feedback, frequency altered feedback, and anti-stuttering medication, which all remain contentious in the treatment of stuttering, are included. Surprisingly, the chapter on anti-stuttering devices comes straight after the introduction and before chapters on more proven approaches to stuttering therapy. The author discusses the use of a delayed auditory feedback device and/ or frequency altered feedback device (developed by his company) to induce fluency in people who stutter. He claims that these devices work by introducing errors targeted at the area that integrates auditory and somatic processing, increasing blood flow to that area and in turn increasing activity to a normal level. Although he does add some interesting notions, these sections of the book should be read with some caution as the usefulness of these approaches have not yet been fully proven.

The main strength of this book lies in its reinforcement that there are no single answers to stuttering, instead advising readers to work out what works best for them. The author encourages people who stutter to take charge of their lives, their stuttering, and its treatment, and offers lots of starting points to enable them to do this. This book is an interesting report on the various treatments available, and whilst it covers a wide scope, further investigation is required to gain a better understanding of the areas covered.

From the Winter 2006 issue of 'Speaking Out', page 17

This book can also be read online at www.casafuturatech.com/Books/NoMiracleCures/

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