New Edition to the group

[Jessica]

Hello I am Jessica I am 25 years old and I stutter.

I feel really shy around a group of people. I don't say much... the mute

I currently started a new position that involves alot of meetings. The toughest part is when we have to introduce ourselves that is like torture to me because I can not even spit out my name. I feel so embarrassed. Other than that I love my job.

I hope to speak to some of you to know that I am not the only one that stutters. I sure feel like I am.

[wenchnwitches]

When you mentioned how difficult it is at meetings because you have trouble saying your name, it struck a chord with me, because I can't even say my last name without the long silence while I am trying to et it out...with me, my heart starts to beat faster and I feel very self-conscious. When I stutter, it makes me feel very unsophisticated and childish....I long to be gregarious and chatty, but I am too self-conscious. I have more confidence now than when I was younger, but I hate the fact that my stutter makes people think that I have no confidence or I am hesitant, unsure etc. I mentally beat myself up when I stutter telling myself that I am stupid and why the heck can't I speak properly...I am in my 3rd year at university and when it comes time to get my test back from the prof, it fills me with dread, because I have to go up and give my last name - Lawes - and I hate it thinking I am going to struggle over my name....

Do you hate it when people - though they try to be helpful - finish off your words or sentences for you? It makes me feel more inadequate and stupid.... :rolleyes:

Anyway,,,take care.

[Professor]

YEAH^ i feel ya i dont have problems wit sayin my name or last name i just say it not thinking about it or show my ID. But i mean like today we had a law quiz and then we went over it when everyone finished and im really good in that class and really open not shy but i dunno i always think dont pick me to read so i dont mess up so the teacher pics people at random and i always look at her to see if its me or not AND then THE LAST question and SHE CALLES ME OMG i was like wtf and i started slow and a stuttered a bit here and there and she said good job but still i felt kinda embarssed but people didnt really care but i donno i really care wat everyone thinks of me i dono its weird. SO yeah i kno where ya coming from

[Riverman]

Jessica,
I have problems introducing myself at meetings. If there is someone new in a meeting I always hope and pray that I will be introduced by another member of the meeting, so that I dont have to say my own name.

I have recently had a few situations where I have tried hard to avoid introducing myself, but this just gives people the impression that I am unfriendly and aloof. It is difficult for me to choose between coming across as unfriendly or risking looking wierd by stuttering.

Having said that I go through periods of fluency where I am confident enough to introduce myself. It really annoys me that my stutter can be so variable from day to day, week to week......

Cheers, Riverman.

[Ivor Stutter]

lol i try not to say my actual name when i have to. Instead i deliberatly mis pronounce it as then it some how gets around my mental block of not being able to say it!

eg my name is Simon but id say zi-mon, most of the time it works and if not they just say pardon and some how i can quickly reel off the word simon. Almost like it distracts my brain!

Ive also read somewhere that some stutteres actually change their name to one they can say. That wouldnt work with me, id soon block that word too!

[junaid chaudhry]

being a new member. hi to everyone.i got the same problem not speaking out my name even the first part.so always try to avoid the introduction. especially in gatthering which is stranger to me it is a kind of pulling horse out of the mud. but you can say a kind of luck if i sings i never stammers but when i speaks i stammer. being an accountant it,s really tough to introduce by singing in a meeting. i never tried it because it,s a kind of piece of joke for other people(i think).
due to stammering, i got no best friend ever in my life because people try to avoid or a kind of sympathizing to me which is really morale disturbing is some sense.
but i m working hard to get this life going as smoothly as possible. please be contact with me so a kind of morale boosting .
bye

[Ivor Stutter]

Hi, it is hard to make friends, i find that peoples immediet reaction is litterally one of shock and i expect them to assume its cos im either retarded or very nervous so i find it hard to then make the effort to speak to them

but i have always found that once people have talked to me about it and they know what it is (only a stutter) it is easy enough to talk to them. I dont even mind people finishing my sentenses sometimes.. ; )

A lot of people are still very ignorant to the fact that there are many stutterers around and they genuinly dont expect to meet one!