Passive Airflow Demonstration Tape
by Peter Louw

The Summer 1992 issue of 'Speaking Out' contained a fair and balanced full page article by Peter Louw on the Passive Airflow Technique as taught by Dr Martin Schwartz. Peter Louw, himself a stutterer, is a former editor of the newsletter for the South African Association for Stuttering. He wrote again in the Spring 1993 issue of 'Speaking Out' saying he would send a demonstration tape for our library for anyone interested to borrow. Well, it has arrived. It is a full 90 minutes long and not of brilliant technical quality so it requires a bit of concentration.

Peter Louw tells us that he took the Passive Airflow course in 1981 and it has helped him a great deal. He calls the tape a 'basic training cassette course for the management and control of stuttering', with emphasis on management and control, not cure. He explains Schwartz's theory of stuttering, that is, a learned, stress related struggle behaviour. Schwartz is all about reducing stress. There are three things that can help the stutterer: (i) stress control, for example relaxation, (ii) psychological aspects such as self-image and positive thinking, (iii) fluency techniques. There are three basic fluency techniques: (a) slowed first syllable, (b) passive air flow, and (c) 'intent to rest' which is the hardest but most effective.

He emphasises regular daily practice, the necessity of involving a friend or monitor, and working through graduated exercises. He mentions role playing and telephone exercises as well as Schwartz specialities such as 'bathtub' relaxation and 'contract' exercises.

The tape is a worthwhile introduction for anyone seriously contemplating the full course. However, I am not sure of its value to the more casual browsers because I am not convinced that one can learn what is essentially a new way of life in this way. What cannot be learned from a tape is accurate self-evaluation, evaluation from a reliable monitor, from a speech therapist and from other students. The danger is that someone may listen to this tape, think they understand it, and then go on to dismiss it as yet another method that does not work without giving it a fair chance.

Reviewed by David Creek in the Spring 1995 issue of 'Speaking Out'

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