Having An Open Mind – Episode 88
Posted on: July 12, 2012
Episode 88 features Anna Deeter, a speech educator who hails from Russia (former Soviet Union) and presently lives in Temecula, California.
Anna has participated in several online stuttering groups and shared her strong beliefs about a unique stuttering program.
She has been mentored and taught by Russian professor, Roman Snezhko, who believes that stuttering can be eliminated through the intensive “relearning” of “normal speech” (similar to NLP, which we mention briefly.)
In the spirit of being open to different ideas, I was curious about Anna’s approach and invited her to tell her story. It is easy to misinterpret written messages on social media. Listening, asking questions and engaging sheds more light on where a person is coming from.
Listen in as we discuss a very different approach to managing stuttering, that might be tough for people to understand. For more information, please visit the website Live Stutter Free. If interested, you can also see some video of several people who have participated in the speech class called ETALON.
Feel free to leave questions or comments for Anna in the comment section below. The podcast safe music used in this episode is credited to DanoSongs.
19 Responses to "Having An Open Mind – Episode 88"
July 12, 2012 at 11:52 AM
I sat here and played the whole interview with Anna Deeter. I think I have made some breakthrough and some major step back when it comes to her approach.
First of all, I come to understand that some of the words or phrases she uses in some of her post might come across as ignorant or not sensitive to PWS. After playing the podcast, I come to understand that her first language is Russian. My wife falls into this category herself. My wife was born and raised in the Philippines, English is her second language. So at times she uses words that might offend some of us here in the States. Let me give you an example, my wife would say stuff like heavy, or not skinny to some people, but what she really means is your cholesterol is high,, you might not want to eat that burger. For us American’s, that sounds like a far stretch. My wife is getting better with her words for sure.. but I hear a lot of that with Mrs. Deeter. But I would like to add.. She reminds us that she has been in the US for over 14 years.. Time to learn the PC language of America if you want to get your point across.
I can spend my time here tearing her interview apart; However, I have better things to do. I do want to point out a few key factors that I took from this interview.
1. Being normal – she keeps saying that we are not normal because we stutter. I think for most people that is very offensive and really sways public opinion about her methods or techniques.
2. Pay attention – I think I have heard her say this twice in the interview. This reminds me of my SLP form my childhood saying talk slower and think about what you’re saying. Mrs. Deeter says that we PWS need to pay attention so we can do it better. WTH??? All I can say to that is STFU!!!!!
3. Giving back – how does someone give back to the stuttering community by charging $10,000. Giving back means help out those with no gain to oneself.. maybe this is another example of culture differences in the English language.
I feel I give back to the stuttering community much better than Mrs. Deeter. When people ask my advice about my speech, I always say my techniques works for me, and if you would like me to share them with you, I will be more than happy to do that for free.. What the person takes away from my techniques is what they take way. This is the difference between Mrs. Deeter and most other PWS.
Again, I can go on and on. But I think we all got the gist. Nothing new was said or mentioned in this interview that we have not already hear from Mrs. Deeter.
January 7, 2013 at 10:26 AM
Pam, have you become naturally fluent like Anna claims?
January 7, 2013 at 8:08 PM
Mark, I have most certainly not become naturally fluent – in fact, I like to think I have a natual and easy dis-fluency. I’ve been told that if I have to stutter, at least its fairly easy to listen too. Right? 🙂
January 28, 2013 at 6:23 PM
Pam, I agree to a point. I think OUR FOCUS being on our speech only perpetuates the problem. What we focus on, we manifest. Furthermore, I also believe , in terms of myself, its HOW I FEEL ABOUT MYSELF AND MY SPEECH, that is the real problem. with that being said, would I have better thoughts and a self-image if I didn’t stutter? I dont know. that’s the miliion dollar question.
However, I also believe that self-acceptance for our stuttering is not the real answer. I think we need to change the focus to our SELF and NOT the stuttering itself. Again, for me its my ATTITUDE that’s the problem, not the stuttering per se.
Mark
July 12, 2012 at 12:34 PM
Anna Deeter
Have you submitted your findings for peer review? To a journal such as the American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology?
Can you back your claims that stutterers possess very little active vocabulary? More so, can you back your claims that stutterers possess a decreased level of focus and concentration? Can you back your claims that stutterers possess a defective memory?
If not, how can you expect a stutterer to pay thousands of dollars to enroll in your program?
While I am in heavy favor of relaying personal experience, and aiding any others who may find your experience applicable, I think it is highly unethical to expect those people to pay thousands for it.
And until you can submit your findings and program for peer review, or at the very least present it in a transparent manner to stuttering communities so we may gauge whether its worth paying thousands for, I think you will find it very challenging to garner our support.
July 12, 2012 at 4:39 PM
Hello,
Thanks for the interview! It’s a breath of fresh air among traditional “Worked for sometime but then I started stuttering again” speech therapies!
As usual, any great new idea is first met with skepticism and Roman Snezkhy’s method is no exception. (Hint: This might as well be the breakthrough the world of stuttering had been awaiting!)
I have been thoroughly reading and re-reading Anna’s website and so far I haven’t found ANYTHING which I could possibly disagree with. It all makes sense to me and even resonates with some of own intuitive understanding about stuttering.
So glad that Roman’s method is starting to get international exposure. I am sure it will kindle many souls (and fire up competitors as well lol)
Thanks to Pamela for doing this interview. And to Anna for being there.
Oh and by the way, I am a PWS myself. And I have had a taste of traditional speech therapies as well. The ones where they teach you “avoidance strategies”. This traditional approach to cure stuttering does not appeal to me because rather than addressing the core issue, it seeks to sideline it using unnatural methods like fancy breathing techniques and the likes which Anna pointed out in this interview. Much like how an ostrich puts its head under the sand when scared 😀
To all those who criticize the cost of this program: What’s the cost of getting you rid of your stutter forever, In just 3 days. Is it worth just a few dollars?
Its all relative. If a 2-door Porsche would cost $10,000…. nobody would object.
A life-time guarantee of a life free from stutter is far more valuable to me than a Porsche.
Regards,
Osman Safdar
Thank you Osman!
YOUR reply is “a breath of fresh air among traditional” responses… Thank you for being an individual with an open mind! I really enjoyed your comparison of the cost of a 2-door Porsche to the price of a life-changing event and a stutter-free guaranteed future! It is all about our priorities… A lot of people would rather BUY things and keep attending FREE speech therapy sessions, rather than invest in THEIR OWN LIVES! Isn’t it amazing?
July 12, 2012 at 7:56 PM
I also enjoyed this podcast very much and find some of the things Anna said to be very interesting. As some of you are aware, I have been highly skeptical of her claims on certain Facebook groups lately and would like to say that none of this was based on her personally but rather how the treatment is being promoted. I am still skeptical of anyone who claims things like this when the background of this treatment appears so murky and promoted as if were a magic pill. I’m not calling anyone a liar or huckster but I will need to see more evidence before I am convinced. If this treatment is some kind of holy grail for helping stutterers then I feel the entire way it is being marketed needs a major overhaul because for me the videos and website come across VERY fishy! Once again I am not making accusations just expressing the gut reaction I had to how it’s all being presented.
Thank you to Pamela and Anna for a very thought provoking interview!
-Mitch Gates
July 12, 2012 at 8:50 PM
Hi Anna,
My situation is very difficult right now. I don’t buy anything,not even a webcam. I would love to live stutter free,but my situation here at home makes it impossible. My daughter works fulltime and I had to quit my job to stay home and take care of my two grandkids. We can’t afford daycare or luxury items. Our money is spent on food, rent and paying bills. I have never been to speech therapy. I just can’t afford it. So, no hard feelings,but between a nice car,living and to live stutter free, I have to pick living for the kids and myself and my daughter. I think every stutterer would love to live stutter free,but not all have that kind of money to spend. We don’t even have $1000 in the savings and we wont for a very long time. My daughter supports 4 people on one income. Times are tough right now.
Kim
July 12, 2012 at 11:10 PM
Man I almost turned off as soon as I heard Anna mention Doc “Hollywood” Cooper and his ‘blame the parents’ theory. Complete unproven rubbish. Another money grabber, with no support or academic backings.But I persevered listening to this business lady.
I will be short in my points:
– Snezhko has no references in Google scholar and does not rate a mention. No academic backing or support what so ever. Surely with 1000 odd cured there would be a buzz.
– The old stuttering as a habit raises its head again. Do some research about stuttering Anna. There is a lot of funded research out there which dispels basically everything mentioned here.
– Vague psychological theory has been applied without any depth at all to the act of stuttering. Easy to make it sound great.
– Spent over 20 minutes listening to a drawn out soap opera of a build up.
– Learn more about cognitive theory & overload to support your arguments.
– Cure is impossible at this stage in history. Stuttering at the moment, unless proven, cannot be cured. If you have a cure (elimination) then you will win a Nobel Prize with Snezhko, be on the cover of Time magazine etc.
– There is no depth at all explained. Just vagueness.
– I think if challenged by academics in the field then Anna would be cut to shreds academically and intellectually.
– There is not proof it works with English speakers. 2 people only, no long term proof etc.
Again just another of a long list of “cure” sites available on the WWW. Offers nothing new, lures the depserate and for some may work short term (like many other techniques).
January 28, 2013 at 6:28 PM
Grant,I 100% agree!! its like someone found a cure for cancer but only a few know about it. If its authentic, and it very well maybe I would think slp’s would gladly learn the approach and then teach it all who want to listen.
July 18, 2012 at 8:39 AM
I checked out the website and can’t find anything regarding costs. Would be nice to know the price of things. Why doesn’t she state the cost. I’m open minded but not a mind reader!
July 18, 2012 at 9:01 AM
If the cost is £10,000 no wonder she doesn’t show the price on the website. Shows she has never stammered, if she had I don’t think she would be taking such financial benefit from people who do stammer?
January 7, 2013 at 9:35 AM
I have said this all along Richard. I can see a few thousand(1-3) but 7 is ridiculous.
January 7, 2013 at 9:34 AM
Pam, is this similar to Neuropatterning by Richard harkness?
January 7, 2013 at 8:06 PM
Hi Mark,
I am not familiar with Neuropatterning, but will check it out! 🙂
May 19, 2013 at 6:48 PM
Anna: You mentioned that you don’t say “person who stutters” and it seems like there was more of story behind this perspective. Is it possible for you to expand on that?
Make Room For The Stuttering 
July 12, 2012 at 11:23 AM
Hello Anna and Pamela,
I really loved this podcast alot! I was a huge skeptic at first,but everything Anna said makes a lot of sense. I never knew that the brain could be re-trained or re-wired,but I have seen it said before in articles and never paid much attention to that. I am also a person who cannot pay attention like Anna stated. I can very much understand everything she said about how a stutterer is. I am glad we could hear Anna talk about everything.
I am a person who always has HOPE that there is something or someone out there that can help stutterers and I feel that Anna and Roman Snezhko ARE doing it. It may be hard for some stutterers to believe that anything can be done, but Anna and Roman seem to know what they are doing. I have seen the videos and the work they are doing is great. All the other programs out there help in many ways,but to re-wire the brain makes more sense to me than breathing techniques. Anna makes sense and I had misjugded her which I had apologized to her about that in an email. All programs do cost a lot and I only wish they were made available to people like me who don’t have much money. I too would LOVE to live stutter free.
Kim Burnett
July 12, 2012 at 7:05 PM
Dear Kim!
Isn’t it funny that I am feeling that we have known each other for a long time now:-)
I would like to thank you for your understanding and support.
I believe that even though many PWS display a lot of resistance today and continue to blame me in many sinful things, just like you, each of them, has the same HOPE. No matter how skillful they are in convincing themselves that they accept their stuttering, still, they would LOVE to part with this condition as soon as someone would make it available for them. Here is the key: NOONE will make it available for you! YOU have to make a decision whether buying a car, taking a nice vacation or something else is more important than investing in YOUR OWN life and obtaining a life-time guaranteed stutter-free!
Thank you again. See you soon!
Warmly, Anna