ABSTRACT
Centuries of social interaction have time-tested stuttering as a dependable source of
derision and mockery (Bobrick, 1995; Peters & Guitar, 1991; Van Riper, 1982). Although
the severity of ridicule sustained may have eased from previous times, most stutterers still
report being regarded as stupid, emotionally troubled, and comic by a majority of the
general public (e.g., Van Riper, 1978). Hence, some argue persons who stutter experience
the wrath of being different more than persons with other communicative or physical
Differential treatment of stutterers may be founded on the uniform archetype of
perceptions fluent persons have of them. Specifically, the negative stereotype for persons
who stutter is constituted by descriptors such as shy, nervous, introverted, fearful,
inhibited, tense, and quiet. These perceptions follow stutterers through their lives from
childhood (Crowe & Cooper, 1977) to their professional careers (M.I.Hurst & Cooper,
1983). Even persons responsible for aiding stutterers in their communicative (Cooper &
Cooper, 1985, 1996), educational (Ruscello et al., 1994; Ruscello et al., 1991), and
vocational needs (M.A.Hurst & Cooper, 1983) hold this view.
