BlueLancer
05-06-2008, 08:25 AM
Hello everyone, I've been reading a number of different posts here since I found this site few days ago and it's nice to find many interesting discussions.
To tell you a little bit about myself, I'm 23, just about to graduate from college, and I don't ever recall stuttering before probably turning 16. As a side note, only my aunt and my grandmother stutter (mildly), everyone else in my family is quite fluent.
All the same, I don't know which category of stuttering to assign myself to. Probably more than 90% of the words I say in a day I say fluently, but when blocking occurs, it's completely random. Most of times I realize or have a feeling I'll get a blocking, and most people don't know since I use word substitution or quickly pause to rephrase the sentence. To make the story more interesting, my own brother doesn't believe me, although my mom told me she noticed I stutter a little when I'm tired or nervous. I guess this is because when talking to my bro I always feel comfortable, whereas when speaking in more formal circumstances (school, phone) I'll sometimes even get a block on the word "hi"...
Not to write a novel here, I'm just wondering if anyone here has been in a similar boat and what kind of relaxation techniques would you recommend. I do wanna mention though, that lately I've been involved in giving more presentations at school and work, but I never seem to cope well with the adrenaline rush. And once 60 seconds pass with me speaking, then the heartbeat goes away and I'm more more comfortable... But it's the initial moments that leave a lasting frustration on me when I do block...
sometimes I think of myself as a driver driving a stick but never seem to start smoothly in first gear. After that, everything's much smoother. (ironically, I do drive a manual car :D
To tell you a little bit about myself, I'm 23, just about to graduate from college, and I don't ever recall stuttering before probably turning 16. As a side note, only my aunt and my grandmother stutter (mildly), everyone else in my family is quite fluent.
All the same, I don't know which category of stuttering to assign myself to. Probably more than 90% of the words I say in a day I say fluently, but when blocking occurs, it's completely random. Most of times I realize or have a feeling I'll get a blocking, and most people don't know since I use word substitution or quickly pause to rephrase the sentence. To make the story more interesting, my own brother doesn't believe me, although my mom told me she noticed I stutter a little when I'm tired or nervous. I guess this is because when talking to my bro I always feel comfortable, whereas when speaking in more formal circumstances (school, phone) I'll sometimes even get a block on the word "hi"...
Not to write a novel here, I'm just wondering if anyone here has been in a similar boat and what kind of relaxation techniques would you recommend. I do wanna mention though, that lately I've been involved in giving more presentations at school and work, but I never seem to cope well with the adrenaline rush. And once 60 seconds pass with me speaking, then the heartbeat goes away and I'm more more comfortable... But it's the initial moments that leave a lasting frustration on me when I do block...
sometimes I think of myself as a driver driving a stick but never seem to start smoothly in first gear. After that, everything's much smoother. (ironically, I do drive a manual car :D