Understanding and Controlling Stuttering: A Comprehensive New Approach Based on the Valsalva Hypothesis Book

Puzzled about stuttering? If so, here is a book, written in clear, every-day language, that fits together the pieces of the stuttering puzzle as never before. The key to its approach is the Valsalva Hypothesis. This exciting new theory proposes that stuttering blocks may result from a neurological confusion between the voice and the Valsalva mechanism (which normally assists us in exerting effort and forcing things out of the body). The book demonstrates how physical and psychological factors may interact to stimulate and perpetuate stuttering through a Valsalva-Stuttering Cycle.

The book sheds new light on virtually every aspect of stuttering behavior - its causes, its paradoxes (e.g., why it s worse in some instances but not others), and its many forms of treatment. Finally, it suggests an experimental self-therapy program, called Valsalva Control, aimed at controlling the Valsalva mechanism, breaking the stuttering cycle, and freeing the stutterer s inherent fluency.

About the Author
William D. Parry received his law degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, where he was an Editor of the Law Review. After struggling most of his life with a severe stuttering problem, Parry became frustrated with existing theories and therapies and began his own research and experimentation. This resulted in his Valsalva Hypothesis (published in the Journal of Fluency Disorders in December 1985) and a therapeutic approach called Valsalva Control, which dramatically improved his fluency. He is now a trial lawyer in Philadelphia and is listed in the Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers, Who s Who in America and Who s Who in American Law.

Parry founded the Philadelphia Area Chapter of the National Stuttering Association in 1985 and led its support group meetings for 15 years. He has served on the Board of Directors of the National Stuttering Association and as Chair of its Advocacy Committee. He has conducted workshops on the Valsalva Hypothesis at numerous NSA conventions, as well as at international conventions for people who stutter.