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Tee24
05-12-2008, 06:43 AM
Hello all, newbie here...

Not sure how to classify my stuttering. I can go for long periods of fluency. I have noticed times where my fluency is challenged a bit. I mostly stutter only in certain situations-when I am nervous(oral presentations) . It's not that I stumble over words. That happens but not a lot. My problem is that I sometimes cannot physically get the words out. I have been in speech therapy since I was in elementary school. In high school I can't remember one instance where stuttering was a problem. I met the speech therapist a couple times in fresh. yr. of high school and my therapy was discontinued because they couldn't even tell I had a speech problem. It's insane when I think about it now. First couple years of college I had no problems. I even remember an oral presentation I had to give in front of the class my freshman year. I was so confident. My third year of college I was in a bit of a disfluent period and I knew it. I had to give a group oral presentation. I was scared out of my mind. I told my group that I had this issue. They said "don't worry about it, you'll be fine" It ended up going bad, not horrible but bad. I couldn't get some words out to start but once I got going I was better. Since then however, I have tried to avoid oral presentations.

During job interviews I hardly ever stutter. I can't explain it. Everything usually flows really well. But, there is one situation that is giving me a very hard time. It's bizarre because it is a very specific situation. When I am put on the spot in front of several people in an orientation type setting and I have to introduce myself(name,etc.) I cannot get my name out right away. It just won't come out. Even on the phone, if I am calling someone I don't really know and have to introduce myself, my name won't come out right away. If they ask me my name? No problem. If I have to initiate it? Hard.

If I am not in these very specific situations, I don't stutter much. Out of all my friends, only 1 even knows I stutter. I stutter around my brother and parents more than usual. Not sure why.

Another scenario is acting. I did acting on camera and was fine because it wasn't live. I refuse to do any acting on stage as it is live and I am too shy. I'm afraid the stutter will flare up in that situation.

Anyone else have a similar profile as mine? I am just trying to get a handle on my situation. I hope there is some type of cure for us. Basically my speech impediment is that I cannot get out words when I am in a tense situation. There is the basic stuttering too but it is not an issue.

Sorry for the long post. I look forward to chatting with everyone. Thank you and take care!

Standingtall
05-12-2008, 04:03 PM
Welcome Tee24. I say your very mild indeed and you suffer from silent blocks. I suffer from silent blocks myself, and i don't repeat words anymore. I tend to do a lot of back up's and start over to get over them and it usually works for me. Looking forward in what you have to share with us.

Tee24
05-13-2008, 08:07 PM
Thanks StandingTall!

I'm surprised that only 3% of people in the US stutter. Seems pretty random. My brother, mom and dad are all 100% fluent. It's definitely an interesting subject. I'm still trying to find out exactly why I only have blockages in certain very specific situations. And it comes and goes on it's own. Sometimes I worry that it will hold me back because of my fears and sometimes I feel more confident.

Anyways, I look forward to talking with all of you!

Take Care!