Stuttering?

Don't let stuttering hold you back from doing what you want in life. Learn as much about the condition so you can help yourself. I have a friend who stutters, and I read some things a www.stutteringhelp.org that helped me when conversing with her. She got the book "Self Therapy for the Stutterer" and is working through it step by step. I have seen a noticeable differnce as she does not stutter as often as she used to. She said that the biggest step was to accept it as part of her and not try to hide or stop it because the more she would try not to stuttr, the more she would. There are blogs and forums on stuttering, too. One that she likes to read is http://notesonstuttering.blogspot.com/; there are links to Bud's Blog that she likes, too. I started reading them so I could understand her situation better. Hope it helps you!

Eve

Don't let stuttering hold you back from doing what you want in life. Learn as much about the condition so you can help yourself. I have a friend who stutters, and I read some things a www.stutteringhelp.org that helped me when conversing with her. She got the book "Self Therapy for the Stutterer" and is working through it step by step. I have seen a noticeable differnce as she does not stutter as often as she used to. She said that the biggest step was to accept it as part of her and not try to hide or stop it because the more she would try not to stuttr, the more she would. There are blogs and forums on stuttering, too. One that she likes to read is http://notesonstuttering.blogspot.com/; there are links to Bud's Blog that she likes, too. I started reading them so I could understand her situation better. Hope it helps you!

Eve

I once stuttered so badly no one could understand me. I was classified as low mentation, when I knew better. My speech therapist once asked me if when I speak, I form the words in my mind correctly, and I answered in the affirmative. She tried everything on me including electric therapy. Nothing worked until one day during Bible study, we were all seated around the table holding hands and in prayer, when I heard a tiny whisper in my right ear. The words were; "I'm going to replace your stuttering with speaking in tongues." I now speak as clearly as anyone else, and I have a tongue with which to speak my native language. As far as the tongues, it is a Spiritual gift, and I have heard others speak that beautiful language. But as far as my having that gift, not yet. If I get it it's fine. I will accept it. If not, I accept that too.

I suggest you find a speech therapist who specializes in stuttering. Maybe there is a school of speech therapy nearby you with a clinic that takes clients on a sliding scale. You CAN learn to control your stuttering. There ARE people out there who understand where you are coming from and "get" you.

I am a stutterer, since 7 years, after family trauma including dad's infidelity, my mother's mental breakdown and suicide attempt, hospitalization, and ECT. When 21 and having had my first baby I went to a student run clinic in the city by the town I lived in. I didn't care about myself but cared enough that my little girl not get made fun of by other kids because of how I talked. This was in 1980. Stuttering therapy had changed tremendously by that time -- they used the Van Riper approach, basically behavior modification, confronting your fears about speech and social rejection, all those things, in a supportive environment. This was the first time I ever encountered a supportive environment and acceptance. My therapist -- a graduate student about my age -- set me on the road that led to me leaving my abusive husband. I give her credit for saving my life. She pointed out that he used my stuttering and fear of social rejection to control me; he tried to block me going to therapy. I experienced teasing, belittlement, humiliation, bullying, and shunning by other kids my entire life. I was repeatedly treated and told that I was not very bright and was not college material (among others, my high school counselor told me that one). I also have a spinal deformity and health problems that compounded the entire situation. My speech therapist told me that those with speech dysfluencies are stigmatized and judged to be lacking in intelligence and to be psychologically troubled in a way those who are, say, in a wheelchair are not. She told me that stutterers are usually more intelligent than other people. My therapist helped me learn how to speak on the phone, go into public and speak, watch myself speak on a video, and learn to lose my fear. My fear remains with speaking in front of groups of people -- I freeze up and have a panic attack. I left a graduate program because of that terror. I have tried and am trying again to find a supportive place to overcome that fear -- if I learned how to speak well on the phone I can learn to get up in front of other people and talk without a panic attack, or so I hope.

When I applied for nursing school they asked on the letters of recommendation if the applicant has mental or psychological disorders. Do they still ask this? I was terrified to ever mention to instructors that when under great stress I became dysfluent again; there were a couple of times in clinical I did stutter. It was very hard for me to learn to go into a pt's room, introduce myself, say what I had to say, then do it. I did learn to do this with repetition. I lived in terror I would be outed and thrown out of school for being psychologically unbalanced and unable to maintain professional communication. I still have this fear in the workplace when I am exhausted and may be dysfluent a time or two; you know, this would fall under professional communication. I don't think the ADA would cover stutterers in the health care environment.

When I was in my last graduate program I met a surgeon who I was told was/is a stutterer and now he gives public speeches and teaches. I was too shy to say anything to him. He was an amazingly compassionate soul, brilliant, everybody loved him. He treated everybody -- housekeepers, RNs, students, MDs -- with equal respect. A few months ago I googled his name, having gotten up the courage to email him, and discovered he died last fall of a sudden MI. I actually nearly cried ....

The best of luck to you. There is help out there, you can learn to control your stuttering. It is a very hard path but the most important one you may ever walk in your life. Without a voice we are nobody. Our voices are what make us human.

I suggest you find a speech therapist who specializes in stuttering. Maybe there is a school of speech therapy nearby you with a clinic that takes clients on a sliding scale. You CAN learn to control your stuttering. There ARE people out there who understand where you are coming from and "get" you.

Stuttering therapy had changed tremendously by that time -- they used the Van Riper approach, basically behavior modification, confronting your fears about speech and social rejection, all those things, in a supportive environment. This was the first time I ever encountered a supportive environment and acceptance. My speech therapist told me that those with speech dysfluencies are stigmatized and judged to be lacking in intelligence and to be psychologically troubled in a way those who are, say, in a wheelchair are not. She told me that stutterers are usually more intelligent than other people. My therapist helped me learn how to speak on the phone, go into public and speak, watch myself speak on a video, and learn to lose my fear. My fear remains with speaking in front of groups of people -- I freeze up and have a panic attack. I left a graduate program because of that terror. I have tried and am trying again to find a supportive place to overcome that fear -- if I learned how to speak well on the phone I can learn to get up in front of other people and talk without a panic attack, or so I hope.

When I applied for nursing school they asked on the letters of recommendation if the applicant has mental or psychological disorders. Do they still ask this? I was terrified to ever mention to instructors that when under great stress I became dysfluent again; there were a couple of times in clinical I did stutter. It was very hard for me to learn to go into a pt's room, introduce myself, say what I had to say, then do it. I did learn to do this with repetition. I lived in terror I would be outed and thrown out of school for being psychologically unbalanced and unable to maintain professional communication. I still have this fear in the workplace when I am exhausted and may be dysfluent a time or two; you know, this would fall under professional communication. I don't think the ADA would cover stutterers in the health care environment.

When I was in my last graduate program I met a surgeon who I was told was/is a stutterer and now he gives public speeches and teaches. I was too shy to say anything to him. He was an amazingly compassionate soul, brilliant, everybody loved him. He treated everybody -- housekeepers, RNs, students, MDs -- with equal respect. A few months ago I googled his name, having gotten up the courage to email him, and discovered he died last fall of a sudden MI. I actually nearly cried ....

The best of luck to you. There is help out there, you can learn to control your stuttering. It is a very hard path but the most important one you may ever walk in your life. Without a voice we are nobody. Our voices are what make us human.

Excellent post. I too stuttered due to fear when I was a child. I was diagnosed with low mentation too, when I knew better. This is why with my other disabilities, I was told I would never be able to work as a nurse again.

But when I became a basic CPR instructor, I was trained to stand up in front of people. I learned the CPR so well, I spoke fluently from memory, and it took my fear of speaking in front of people completely away.