Woaw great post! I hope to see more informative posts like these. After reading it, I come with even more questions than before. My questions: "*Acknowledging Stuttering*". What does 'acknowledging stuttering' entail exactly in your opinion? Answer: In my viewpoint, I consider **acknowledging stuttering** as self-confirming that I am stuck in different vicious circles, and I acknowledge that a speech block is brought about by canceling a [speech plan](https://www.reddit.com/r/Stutter/comments/11fn406/poll_do_you_understand_this_one_of_the_most/) or stop instructing to send command signals to speech muscles to move them correctly. "*Elongation*". What are the positive and negative effects of elongation in your opinion? Answer: In my viewpoint, all strategies could be effective to outgrow stuttering with the right goal (or mindset). Almost no person who stutters outgrows stuttering with therapy since there is no cure, however, does that mean that advice from speech therapy is redundant? In my opinion, no, it can still be useful, for example '*speaking slower*' or '*elongation*' can be useful if we apply a helpful mindset or goal, e.g., when applying elongations we can develop a helpful attitude of: * stop perceiving stuttering as a problem or to be avoided * stop canceling speech plans, or * [prioritize forward flow over disruptions](https://drive.google.com/file/d/17_yNt_lh8CCWlvlySg-gaFjwW4N1aell/view?usp=sharing) Elongations don't have to be aimed towards these major problems of the stutter cycle, in another viewpoint it can also be used to alleviate secondary characteristics e.g., reduce muscle tension, reduce dependency on anticipatory anxiety (whereby we reduce the need to track the outcome of speech or scan for errors), or reduce avoidance-behaviors like substituting words. The negative effect of applying elongation could be that we replace '*unhelpful corrections like elongation*' with '*instructing to send command signals*', which could then lead to a speech block. In the end of the day 'elongating' is just a tool, just like how soldiers long ago in the Middle Ages used tools like a sword.. you can cut enemies with it but you can also cut yourself with it, depending on your mindset or goal. It's just a tool and in my opinion, at this moment of time these kind of tools in speech therapy are mostly used to maintain the vicious circle instead of outgrowing stuttering. In other words, it was never about the tool to begin with, because if we focus on and prioritize ***sending command signals over disruptions***, then we won't block - a tool is just a way to make it easier however in this specific situation in my opinion, a tool will invariably make outgrowing stuttering that much harder with an unhelpful mindset (or attitude) as explained above. Does it make sense?