How have you coped with your stuttering?

Question

I have learned to accept it. Growing up I never noticed I did it till I was 6. My dad does it too. I have wondered if it was genetic or does it skip a generation. I have learned to compromise with words. I not horrible but it happens. I have been to speech therapist when I was little but it did nothing. Plus for odd reasons I wouldn't stutter around the therapist. I hated when people didn't understand my dilemma and would giggle. I love the people who are understanding, who understand and don't make fun of it. Sometimes I make great stride in my speech, I don't believe in therapy or special devices, and learned to live with it. I really hated when people would say just " calm down",(they don't understand). Some people are hush hush about it, and don't acknowledge it. Sometimes I try to hide it, like it's my sercet identity or something. I would be like Clark Kent, trying to conceal it. Have you had similar experiences and how do you deal with it?

Answer 1

Our family of stutterers got the book "Self Therapy for the Stutterer" from The Stuttering Foundation of America and worked through the 12 steps over and over until stuttering was no longer an issue. www.stutteringhelp.org is their web site.

Answer 2

A friend who stutters replaces words that are hard to say with synonyms but sometimes can't find the right word so it comes out sounding funny. She avoids the telephone and talking in groups. She would be better off if she would just admit that she stutters and not try to hide it, though. I have read the tips at www.stutteringhelp.org for speaking with someone who stutters and have found that slowing my own speech helps her. If everyone knew to do that, stutterers wouldn't have such a hard time!

Answer 3

When I was in middle school, our music teacher helped a boy who had a problem and made him speak in front of 50 students. First he was extremely nervous and some students were giggling but he also was determined to face his fear and humiliation. It was amazing to witness his progress and he simply had to take a deep breathe before he spoke. Just a deep and slow breathe and he was able to speak freely. Now I don't know what happened to him... It was almost 20 years ago.

Answer 4

Yes, both me and my brother used to stutter really bad. I still revert back to it sometimes as some words are just harder to say than others. My boss thought it was quite funny. lol I just learned to talk slow and really think about what I was going to say. Then as I got better, I could start talking faster.

Answer 5

w-w-w-what d-d-do ya mean?