i stammer at times.. and it bothers me! plz help!!?

Question

well my problem is wierd! i happen to stammer at times! because of that i have generally avoided people.. like i do not have more than 1 or 2 good friends and that bothers me a lot.. nowadays since the recent past i have been making plenty of friends but i also have noticed that people who generally love me online do not stick with me for long in person! that frustrates me! like i am now 19 and i definitely do not want to you know be reserved and stuff.. i want to be really open and friendly and you know a popular guy but this stammer seems to affect me! i hope there is someone out there who really undertstands my problem and will help me out!!
and yeah recently i started speaking slowly ..it did reduce the amount of stammering but that soon affected me like i felt unnatural.. but if i go fast i have a higher frequency of stuttering!! i am actually a bright student and infact very good at studies! i want to have a great career and do not want anything standing in my way!!

Answer 1

The book "Self Therapy for the Stutterer" is what my uncles and cousins used to overcome their stuttering. Speech therapists who specialize in treating stuttering often use it in their sessions. It is online here http://www.mnsu.edu/comdis/kuster/TherapyWWW/selftherapy.html
or is available through Amazon.com and The Stuttering Foundation of America in their estore.

Here is one place to meet other stutterers: http://groups.myspace.com/stutteringfoundation

These blogs have good information:
http://stutteringhelp-bud.blogspot.com/
http://notesonstuttering.blogspot.com/

Answer 2

Jacko has given you a lot of information and resources. Check them out. Have you had an assessment by a speech therapist? This should be your first phone call on Monday. It should take less than an hour for a therapist to determine if you would benefit from speech therapy.

But look, the bottom line is this: You are who you are. You make every effort to be friendly and outgoing. If someone is going to avoid you because of a minor speech issue like this, then they wouldn't be good friends anyway. Your real friends should love you and accept you just the way you are. None of us is perfect. We all have some characteristics that others would consider a flaw or imperfection. Your best bet is to just be yourself and continue to be socially active and friendly to people. The really genuine and positive people will rise to the top of your social group like cream, and those are the people you want to keep in your life. Just allow the others who turn their backs on you because of your stammer to fall by the wayside where they belong. You don't need shallow and self-centered people in your life anyway.

Social interaction is a give-and-take proposition. If your "give" happens to take a few seconds longer than you'd like because of something as minor as a stammer...well, there are worse problems you could have. My best friend in high school had a severe stammer and I admire him to this day as one of the strongest and most confident people I've ever known.

Good luck!

Answer 3

SPEECH DISORDERS: GENERAL ADVICE FOR ALL DISORDERS: Use the WebFerret search engine, your own, and the Wikipedia, and Google websites. GROUPS, at Myspace, Yahoo, and/or Google may be of assistance, and also contact the state, and national bodies for more information. STUTTERING :Try deliberately slowing your speech, or putting some marbles in your mouth. See http://www.stuttering.org/bsrp.html ($$$) & http://www.casafuturatech.com/Books/ (Books/NoMiracle Cures/) (NoMiracleCures/index.shtml) & http://www.slc.sevier.org/comdis.html & http://www.perfect-voice.com/ Call (USA) 1800 992 9392 and 1800 221 2483. It may also be helpful to visit page 38, on self confidence, and use daily, the EFT, at http://www.ezy-build.net.nz/~shaneris on page 2: "I accept myself completely and deeply, even though I may stutter". LISPING: http://members.tripod.com/Caroline_ (Caroline_Bowen/lisping.htm) PUBLIC SPEAKING: http://www.uncommonknowledge.com/ & http://www.voicebusiness.com.au/ and see social anxiety, at ezy-build on page 9.