Ask me about stuttering.

[Azvareth]

I figured this could be a nice change from all the "post your favorite" and the recent invasion of news threads that's started to crowd OT lately.

 

 

 

 

 

When I have talked about my stuttering with friends and such, it has always raised a fair bit of interest; they're always pretty curious and have plenty of questions. So I figured I'd share my experiences with the TIF community and try to answer any questions that you (hopefully) might have, seeing as there isn't much that is actually known about it. :)

 

 

 

So, I've been a stutterer for as long as I can remember. My parents say they started noticing it shortly after I began to speak as a child, so it all basically started around the age of 2 and 3. I'm 19 now.

 

 

 

However, for the past three years or so, my stuttering has subsided vastly, up to a point where it is now almost gone entirely. Before this, I suppose my stuttering could have been described as "moderate". Now, I'd just describe it as "mild". It has thankfully never been very extreme.

 

 

 

I went to a speech therapist for almost four years outside school when I was in 9th grade up to the third year of high-school, and in grade one or two (or one to two, I don't remember exactly how long I went there) I also went to a speech therapist in school, however this one hardly helped me other than making me aware of, and realise, that I have a speech impediment. I don't know why, but I stopped going there after a while. The other two really helped and changed me in a lot of ways.

 

 

 

For you psych-inclined folks, I would guess that my first therapist - whom I went to for around three years - used social psychology mixed with behaviorism as major guidelines for his sessions, and I think that the second one used psychodynamic and social psychology, but like I said, don't hold me on either. I went to her for a year.

 

 

 

The most frequent "types" of stutters that exist are prolongation and blocking. You probably already know how each one works, but I'll clarify just in case. A good description I've heard for blocking is if you imagine that your throat is a "traintrack" and the words you're trying to say is a "train". Now imagine that train derailing from the track and getting stuck in your throat; that's what it feels like. The word you're trying to say just gets stuck in your throat. It doesn't choke you, but the physical feeling is about the same. It can then, depending on how severe of a stutterer you are, make you react in different ways, I've seen people start pinching their eyes closed and literally try to force the word out by sheer willpower, or if the person is an extreme stutterer, they have started twitching and shaking because they are so desperately trying to say that damn word. I'm fortunate enough to not had to experience either of those yet (although I've witnessed them both plenty of times), because I learned at an early age to just relax, take a small pause, then start over again. There are of course other types of reactions as well, it all depends on the person and the severity of his or hers' stuttering.

 

Prolongation is probably the most common type (or the one you hear the most about), and it's when you're trying to say something, but you're either "caught up" in it, or you just can't for the life of you seem to make yourself say the next letter, for example, "w-w-wa-waffles". This one irritates me the most, because it is relatively easy to cover up the blocking bit by, for example, pretending you were considering something deeply* (sounds stupid but it actually works very well :P), but the prolongation is a much more apparent and clear stutter, so there's really no way to cover it up well.

 

 

 

 

 

I'll stop rambling now, and just let you guys decide what I should explain/talk about. I have very few reservations when it comes to talking about my "condition"; my experiences, techniques and what I've gone through. As far as I'm concerned, there aren't any "dumb" questions, so don't hesitate to ask if there's something you're wondering about. :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*this one naturally only "works" if you're the one attempting to "initiate" a conversation with someone, or if you're right in the beginning of answering something - because, as you can imagine, it wouldn't work very well if you're in the middle of a conversation to just suddenly drop it and look totally oblivious and in deep thought.

[Nadril]

You stutter(ed)?

 

 

 

 

 

Can't believe I never knew this. :shock: :lol:

[indy500fan]

I only really have one question. Do you prefer forums, IM, and texting rather than speaking, so you don't have to worry about stuttering?

[Guest]

I went to speech therapy for a couple years when I was a child. I was incapable of saying the letter S without sounding like a half dead hissing snake.

 

 

 

Interesting Read by the way Az.

[Nadril]

I remember going to speach therapy when I was a kid for like, a year or so, but I can't for the life of me remember what it was for exactly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also apparently you shouldn't sarcasticly stutter to a stutter. :P

[____]

You stutter(ed)?

 

 

 

 

 

Can't believe I never knew this. :shock: :lol:

So did I for most of my primary school years.

 

 

 

It still comes and goes, like nowdays it can be a real pain in the arse when i'm tired, but hardly ever :)

[Azvareth]

You stutter(ed)?

 

 

 

 

 

Can't believe I never knew this. :shock: :lol:

 

 

 

Probably because we've never talked through a mic or telephone. I obviously don't go parading around that I stutter, for the same reason people with dyslexia or people that lisp don't do it. In fact, a few years ago, I had never even said the word "stutter" aloud, and back then I'd probably rather have gotten my [wagon] kicked than openly talked about it.

 

 

 

What people don't seem to realise is that a lot/most people that stutter are very self-conscious about it. I've grown out of it thanks to therapy and the fact that I know better than feel insulted by people being [wagon] about it. But I've read about people who've had their entire school time ruined by bullies and such. It's really frustrating because they probably don't grasp what they're doing to this kid by yelling, "Hi R-R-Robert!" after him. Kids really can be bastards.

 

 

 

 

I only really have one question. Do you prefer forums, IM, and texting rather than speaking, so you don't have to worry about stuttering?

 

 

 

I really enjoy reading forums and talking to people I'll never meet over the internet, but I don't prefer it to meeting people in person. I am a very sociable person despite my stuttering, and I really enjoy meeting new people. However, I might be a bit reserved to you in the beginning, but that completely wears off after a while. It's a matter of trust really.

 

 

 

I am however, not a fan of calling people. I much prefer texting to calling. With that said, however, I will, 80% of the time call anyway. If I just met you though, it's basically a 50/50 between them. Like I said, the therapy has changed me a lot.

[jemathonical]

I have a little stutter and I do what you said, the pause and consider what I'm saying deeply. It pretty much works.

 

When I was in Primary school I talked really fast and mum and dad said to slow down, and that's kinda when I started stuttering. But now I'm not stuttering as much.

 

 

 

I only really have one question. Do you prefer forums, IM, and texting rather than speaking, so you don't have to worry about stuttering?

 

Well for me I actually prefer talking because on the forums and texting I actually have to think about what I'm going to say. Whereas talking I just say it, even if I just have a little stutter, it doesn't worry me.

[rushrock]

That sucks. I wonder if chewing gum would help with with stuttering?

 

 

 

There's a kid in my history class who's had a stuttering problem all his life. He used to stutter in about every sentence, and know he only stutters about once every other sentence. :|

[Nom]

It's actually pretty interesting to see the small problems lots of people have with speech. I know someone who can't pronounce his r's. He just kind of makes a weird back-of-the-throat, nasal noise and skips over them. Good to see that you're getting better though.

[look_its_rob]

I went to speech therapy when i was younger too because of a horrible Boston accent. i could even say words like dirt... it would come out as diit. now my accent is a bit more limited.

[Azvareth]

That sucks. I wonder if chewing gum would help with with stuttering?

 

 

 

There's a kid in my history class who's had a stuttering problem all his life. He used to stutter in about every sentence, and know he only stutters about once every other sentence. :|

 

 

 

I think I've actually heard about that method, long ago, but I am very skeptical as to whether it would have any effect or not. But some believe that stuttering is caused by the vocal cords not "responding" properly, so the chewing gums might, so to speak, warm them up. I don't know.

 

 

 

And stuttering is a thing that, at days, or even weeks, might be a right pain in the [wagon], while at other times, your speaking is fluent and there's no sign of stuttering whatsoever. He could have one of those "better" periods now, or he might actually be growing out of it a bit and getting better.

 

 

 

 

 

It's actually pretty interesting to see the small problems lots of people have with speech.

 

 

 

It totally is. For you people that don't stutter, if you want to say something, you just say it. For people that stutter, there can be an entire thought process going into it before even starting a conversation, like, "how should I start? Will this word make me stutter? What words can I use instead of that one? Can I formulate it differently?" etc.

 

But mostly this process of thought comes natural and automatically, at least for me, so I can quickly discern which words to use and whether I could formulate the entire sentence differently. I'm very grateful that my parents got me into reading books at an early age, so I have a pretty big vocabulary.

[PumpkinPete112]

I went to a speech therapist for 5years because i have a moderate speech impediment. I cannot pronounce anything with certain patters of r's (such as rl in girl) and i have a raspy mumbley slurred wispy speech. i kinda wish i didn't but accept it and i am a pretty sociable person. And i can say that my wisp is just an accent.

[rushrock]

I feel really sorry for people with these speech problems. People shouldn't have to go through that, and whenever I hear that kid in my history class stuttering while trying to say something during class I feel really bad for him. :(

[____]

I feel really sorry for people with these speech problems. People shouldn't have to go through that, and whenever I hear that kid in my history class stuttering while trying to say something during class I feel really bad for him. :(

When I was in Grade 6, we had external German/French teachers come in, and for my Oral Exam for German she failed me because she didn't believe that I stuttered, just was that convinced she was right and that I just couldn't speak the language. It took 4 weeks, and 6 written letters from my speech therapist to convince her that she'd screwed up and to pass me :uhh:

 

 

 

 

 

In Grade 7, however, myself and a friend did a short movie in German (for the major assessment item) and I didn't stutter at all during it, but questions after we'd shown the film and it nailed me a fair bit. I would literally have to stop, think, reword phrases in order to get it out smoothly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Which, after all that in my youth, I find it amusing that I am so effective in retail as a sales assistant on the floor where I spend most of my time talking to customers either on the phone or in person. And I'm yet to stutter in those situations. For me, personally, it has mostly been a matter of how relaxed I was feeling as to how bad it was.

[rushrock]

That project thing is horrible rick. Sorry to hear that. :(

 

 

 

Relaxing sounds like a good idea. Thinking about what to say and how it will sound and planning all of this in your head seems hard, but I bet you get used to it.

 

 

 

Glad that stuttering isn't controlling you guys! :)

[____]

Yea, I see stories on the news of people who are crippled by their stuttering and it's just sad. Mine was never as bad as some (who literally can hardly say their name without taking 20 attempts and even then it only just makes it out in a comprehensable manner :(

[rushrock]

That's horrible. This kind of disease (at least to that degree) doesn't seem natural. I wonder if there's any hope for a cure (if there isn't one)? I have no idea how they would be able to come up with one though. :?

[martinisback]

I bet you all don't know that I studder to lmao. But mines not an extreme time..but I do studder!

 

 

 

Proud!........

 

 

 

 

 

NAAAAAAAT

[insane]

Stuttering is a minor issue for me. I suffer from the "prolongation" you described although it only happens ~once/week.

 

 

 

I do have a question, because I can almost always predict it will happen and just change the sentence structure of what I want to say and prevent it... have you experienced this?

[sparky697]

haha

 

 

 

kind of funny..read the topic then im like hmm..and decided to open it and read your post.

 

 

 

i found it funny because my story is pretty much the same as yours. i've stuttered ever since i can remember. mine, like yours, has not been as bad the past few years (im 17 now.) the problems i have are k/c sounds, words that start with s like so, th's are kinda hard, and words that start with b's. in elementary school and some of middle school, i got picked on bad. i would get the "spit it out" thing a lot. so, i sort of tought myself to talk differently. i would use words that i knew i could say without stuttering so people wouldnt laugh or think differently at me.i went to the speech classes but i thought they were really [developmentally delayed]ed and i couldnt bring myself to read a piece of paper outloud that read " thhhhhhhhhhhheeeeeeee" over and over again. i've learned to deal with it. i have quite a few good friends that dont even notice it. when i tell/told them about it they laugh at me and tell me that im high or something (never done drugs :thumbsup: ."

 

 

 

so...this post kinda made my day lol.

 

 

 

edit: didnt read all of the replies...so i have to comment about what i read.

 

 

 

chewing gum doesnt help me. im not sure why..but it just doesn't.

 

i prefer typing online than talking. because i gave 4 years of my life to runescape, im a decently fast typer.

 

i can predict when im going to studder...so i pick different words in place of the ones i was going to use.

 

if im in front of a lot of people or attractive girls, i'll concentrate mostly on how i talk and i wont really stutter much.

[hiimben]

I've always had a bit of a desire to know this, and as long as we're asking I guess that it's alright :)

 

 

 

Well, basicly, When I'm speaking outloud, I'm speaking/thinking too fast for my own good, and I usually forget what I'm trying to escape, or a certain word escapes me, so I just put out my index finger and put it forward it a sort of "Hang on a tick, I'll get this sometime" type deal, Take a breath and then restart.

 

 

 

What I'd like you're input on is whether it's a stutter in the first place, seeing as it happens fairly frequently, and if so, what type you'd define it as, I only found out till now that there's more than one type hehe :P

[sparky697]

well im not so sure that the only problem i have is a stutter. i've been wondering this for some time: is it more than stuttering thats keeping me from pronouncing a certain sound right away??

 

 

 

i dont get caught up in my words at all. i just stutter on some words. most of the time, i do think before i speak. the part that i may go "th th th the one time when..." is stuttering i believe.

 

 

 

at this period in my life, i dont think theres anyway to eliminate my stuttering. even if i did, im so used to saying the word that dont make me stutter that it'd be a waste of time.

[____]

A stutter is very distinctive, repitition of syllables...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[justin_m23]

Sometimes, I get kind of a mental block stopping me saying the word. But I just take a breath, then keep going. Is that a proper stutter? I have always wondered. It gets worse if i become self conscious of it, so maybe its a confidence thing. I hardly get it now but I'm still curious.