Changing Stammer/Stutter

Double Top

I just wanted to know if anybody else has this problem. i have a really bad Stammer and Stutter, and it keeps changing on my, one week it could be that i can't get the words out at all, next week i start repeating the same word over and over again. at the monent it is wer i got ehhhhhhhhhhhhhh at the start of each sentence plus in front of a particular word (mostly (T,S,K,C). does anybody else have this problem please let me know and if there's any help put there
(i have been to speech therapy all my life and it doesn't work for me)

thanx

ParkRunner

For what it's worth I go through similar phases of being stuck on the beginning of a word and prolonging the first sound, or just not get any sound out at all for a while! I also sometimes add in several eh's um's and ah's inan attempt to say the first word, so what you are saying sounds normal to me at least.

I have been on several courses, McGuire/Patmar and eventually I have become less sensitive to my stammer which is key really in my opinion. From my experience there is no cure, just ways of being able to come to terms with a stammer and gain control of your speech through exploring what is going on mentally and physically as you approach and engange in speaking situations

candy-gal1

i had a bad stammer when i was younger, like 7 or 8, and a lisp at one point!!
its nowhere near as bad now, but i still get a stammer here n there with certain words, does my head in at times but theres no trick to it, i usually just try not too plan what i say, if i can, and that usually helps if i just say whatever it is without thinking!

Broad

Hi - I was asked to read out loud in class at the age of about 7, I opened my mouth and absolutely nothing came out. I had such a bad stammer when I was a teenager that I stopped talking altogether for a while. For years I was unable to say my name at all and actually used to blurt out a random name beginning with a vowel to avoid tackling a hard sound. To this day (too many years later ) I still get stuck sometimes, especially on the phone but in general I am absolutely fine with talking. Not because I was cured by the endless speech therapy (which I loathed) or completely unnecessary visits to a psychologist (which I absolutely resented), but because I learned to somehow work around the stammer, to do verbal "run-ins" to sentences, to say "I'm called" before my name and so on..... When people now hear that I am a chronic stammerer they are either surprised that I have a stammer at all, or they say that they knew something was a bit strange with how I speak but they could not put a finger on it. I do now speak quite fast and throw in a lot of "ums" but all in all am fine and don't think about it on a day to day basis.

Many more young people have stammers/stutters than older ones - so it stands to reason that the older ones have either lost it or have learned to work around it.

There are quite possibly verbal things that you can do to cope - stammerers generally have more of a problem with hard consonant sounds like t, p, k etc than vowels like a, i etc. I automatically start some sentences with "actually" for this reason. Or just an "eh yes..." or "oh I know..." or "hmm....". I know this may look ridiculous but it honestly eventually saved my social life. And I didn't learn it from a speech therapist. Maybe speech therapy has changed since I was younger, then they used to make you take the sounds you had trouble with head on. I found it far more useful to avoid those sounds or lead up to them with other words or phrases.

Try not to worry, though it seems hard. The odds are seriously on that you will deal with it, even if you don't lose it. Best of luck

Double Top

thanks for the advice. the thing is i overthink everything so when i go to speak in the back of my mind is always "i'm gonna stammer". i have also found out that when i am angry i don't stammer at all. another thing i have relised is that i have to curse sometimes before i start talking usually the F word (find it easier to get out, but not a good idea in some social occasions;)). i know i will never get rid of it, i was just want it to calm down because i am sick of those smiles (the ones were your trying to talk and the other person has that stupid awwww smile on there face). i have been slagged over me stammer all of my life, so i find it very hard to talk to new people especially girls because i think the first time i start stammering will be made fun of again ( i know for a 20 year old might sound a bit immature). again thanx to all who have replied and please keep the advice coming, it will help out more then just me, most poeple won't talk about stuff like this because they are embarassed,

ParkRunner

That I'm going to stammer fear is natural but if you can manage to change this thought to something like well I might stammer but what the hell if I do, the world will still go on, it might help. If you're thinking I am going to stammer, the chances are you will!

Generally people are pretty decent about it and unfortunately you just have to deal with the ones who decide to slag you about it. Some girls (from what I'm told) find it attractive too so it's not all bad

Broad

Completely understand the not stammering while angry and shouting thing, and also the not stammering while singing at all or even maybe when reciting poetry out loud, at least when past the first word. I played the flute as a teenager and was sometimes not even able to sound the first note of a tune, it was that bad I wasn't able to release the air to play the note :mad:. Also remember the swearing as a starting point, and twenty-something years ago that was a bit less acceptable than it is now! Especially as I was a stammering girl which is more unusual as most are boys.
Honestly the girls don't mind. Really thay don't. And if any do they are not worth bothering with.
It will get better. You will care less if you can decide to (but it may take a bit of time..), and that in itself will improve the situation.

Double Top

EF wrote: »

That I'm going to stammer fear is natural but if you can manage to change this thought to something like well I might stammer but what the hell if I do, the world will still go on, it might help. If you're thinking I am going to stammer, the chances are you will!

Generally people are pretty decent about it and unfortunately you just have to deal with the ones who decide to slag you about it. Some girls (from what I'm told) find it attractive too so it's not all bad

could be a good chat up line " sorry i'm stammering you just so beautiful i can't speak" hahaha, thanx for the advice EF,Broad,Candy-gal 1. i have been trying it and it has been working kinda. was out last night with my mates and i completely forgot about my stammer until i had to talk to somone new, but i just got on with it stammered abit at the start and that was it, she was a cool girl and said she didn't even notice my stammer. so thanx again to you all, really big help:D:D:D:D