I believe that I may be suffering from a sort of speech impediment. I have been afflicted since the age of seven (which is the earliest age at which I seem to recall its presence). I am now a sixteen year old male. This is very difficult and somewhat embarrassing for me to write about, as I have never shared it with anyone before.
Oftentimes, I will find myself unable to say certain words or phrases. It feels as though my vocal chords lock and cannot function. This is only at certain times, and most often with words beginning with vowels. I have learned to not use some words at all because I simply cannot say them without embarrassingly prolonging my syllables. I can usually save the situation with replacing the word with an awkward synonym. This will often last for entire conversations, me having to pause for often as long as fifteen seconds trying to build the energy to coordinate myself. It is almost indescribable. This is almost always silent, however, and I have never stuttered.
This is absolutely devastating for me. I am actually a social person, and enjoy being around people. This even happens around my closest family members whom I am entirely comfortable with. I have a very large vocabulary but find most of it unusable. I love studying languages but can barely speak them simply because of the aforementioned symptom. I feel that I have lost many opportunities due to the resulting inarticularity. I do not naturally have social anxiety, but what I do have only results from this apparant impediment. This must be something neurological or physical.
I have been many in situations where people ask me a question as simple as what my name is, and I come across as mentally retarted because I often cannot even produce the sound of my name.
I highly doubt it, but if anyone has any experience with this I would be very grateful to hear your thoughts.
Thank you very much for reading.
2007-11-07
11:27:57
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4 answers
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asked by
chopin1810900
1
in
Mental Health