How can those who don't stutter better understand?

[Fahima]

Hi all
I'm from Australia and I'm studying Education at a university here. I decided to join the forum so that I can better understand the point of view of those who are stutterers or may have speech difficulties. I'm having a really interesting time reading everybody's posts. I didn't know how many problems people can face if they stutter. I do know a few stutterers myself but personally, I do not have a speech difficulty.

I was wondering if anyone could come up with some ideas for me. I have to do a presentation in class on Speech Therapists in the Classroom, but I also want to share with my fellow classmates the difficulties people with speech impairments go through. Can anyone think of an activity I could do that would help my classmates really understand what it is like to have a speech impairment? I'd like it if the activity made the students realise maybe the frustration, embarrassment and other types of feelings people with speech impairments may have in particular circumstances.

I hope I haven't come across as completely ignorant. I'm still learning, and I hope somebody out there can think of something for me, so we can all help to break down the barriers.

Thanks so much. :)

[Bobby]

hey, a fellow australian ! where abouts in australia are you from ? i'm from Sydney. just about to do my HSC.

back on topic

it will be very hard to simulate the same feeling.

to me, the feeling of anxiety is much more worse then the stuttering. i dont know what else i can give you. the main reason i wanted to post was cause your from australia ;)

[cotton]

Hi Fahima. Interesting project you're doing. I'll be glad to help you but it's quite difficult to simulate something like this. Well how abou this... any stutterers would agree?

I think non-stutterers do have moments in their life where they stuttered such as being nervous at a job interview or making a presentation. How to simulate a stutter's experience? Drink 10 cups of coffee. One hour later as the caffeine's dopamine and adrenaline kicks in, stand before a crowd. You get nervous. Have a big interrogating spotlight shining on your face. You know what you want to say but can't say it. You have invisible duct tape over your mouth. The audience asks you questions waiting for your reply but nothing comes out. As they wait you can see their baffled expressions on their faces and you know what they're thinking. They're wondering what's wrong with you. Are you an invalid or mentally challenged? ANd all the while time passes you feel like you're being stripped . You get embarassed and even feels worse when you've done this for all your life, the anxiety of speaking becomes almost like habit. You associate speaking with fear and shame. Speaking is impossible. To speak is to self-express and self-expression in relation to the outside world is a very important part of a person's identity. Do this chronically everday -- even asking for a cup of coffee at a restaurant becomes something like brain surgery.

Fahima, I don't think you're ignorant at all! Especially taking interest in learning about this.

[Flash]

I don't think someone who has never had a very serious stuttering problem could really understand fully the extent of the whole situation. Just think how it would feel to almost always feel like your a prisoner of your own home. You want to go out but your too afraid to. Asking a stranger for the simplest of things is almost impossible. Cotton explained it really well...

You get embarassed and even feels worse when you've done this for all your life, the anxiety of speaking becomes almost like habit. You associate speaking with fear and shame. Speaking is impossible. To speak is to self-express and self-expression in relation to the outside world is a very important part of a person's identity. Do this chronically everday -- even asking for a cup of coffee at a restaurant becomes something like brain surgery.

I've been stuttering now for more than half my life (8/9 when I started and 18 now). cotton's words are exactly the same situations that I, as well as many other people on here, go through on a daily basis. I try to avoid almost all speaking situations. If I know before hand that I must speak then it's not as bad because I can think about what i'm going to say first. But if a speaking situation comes up spontaneously, then a lot of times I get extremely nervous and definetely stutter more.

The Number of people listening also affects my speech, if it's 1 person then I won't get as nervous. But if it's a whole classroom that has never heard me speak, then I get even more nervous and start sweating profusely. For some reason, once I start talking all the stress and anxiety goes away. Then when I'm done I think to myself why did I get so nervous and stressed out, but for some reason every time these situations occur, it still always happens.

One of the ways a person's personality is shown is through his/her communication. Peope who know me but don't know me well enough would probably say that I'm a shy person. People who know me really well would say the opposite. Theres always so much I want to say, but I constantly limit myself due to the fact that I have a bad stuttering problem. In class I really want to participate in discussions and asking questions when I don't understand a certain topic, but I rarely do these days.

I use all types of "filler words" as some people might call them such as "um," "ah," "like," etc. It helps for me to get more words out and not stutter as much, but it doesn't sound as natural. It sometimes even sounds just as bad if I need to use them after every single word.

I hope some of the issues I talked about here you can use in your presentation! Good luck with it!

[JustKeisha]

Hi all
I'm from Australia and I'm studying Education at a university here. I decided to join the forum so that I can better understand the point of view of those who are stutterers or may have speech difficulties. I'm having a really interesting time reading everybody's posts. I didn't know how many problems people can face if they stutter. I do know a few stutterers myself but personally, I do not have a speech difficulty.

I was wondering if anyone could come up with some ideas for me. I have to do a presentation in class on Speech Therapists in the Classroom, but I also want to share with my fellow classmates the difficulties people with speech impairments go through. Can anyone think of an activity I could do that would help my classmates really understand what it is like to have a speech impairment? I'd like it if the activity made the students realise maybe the frustration, embarrassment and other types of feelings people with speech impairments may have in particular circumstances.

I hope I haven't come across as completely ignorant. I'm still learning, and I hope somebody out there can think of something for me, so we can all help to break down the barriers.

Thanks so much. :)

So you want to do a presentation on someone who stammers, make it clear to non stammers, what it feels like, etc! My Suggesstion, maybe do a little activity, like where some ppl take on the role of a stammer, but b4 hand, discuss the embarassment, the fustration, of wanting to speak but cant ... then have the other half of course an non stammers, like maybe between them, have half who mock it, and laugh and take it as a joke, and then have the others, who dont mock, and dont think it's funny to laugh at someone difficulty. Of course arrange it all b4 hand, discuss, how you will Potray the diff groups, then after wards, maybe a lil speech from the group, one person speak out about what it felt like, then you can elaborate from there ... :)

Just a suggesstion ...

[Gary1450]

Good comments. I like Cotton's idea also.

Keisha -

You could do something like this:

Give them a menu or something and have them order but they can't order anything with that starts with certain letters or syllables to show the limitations stutters face when trying to order food somewhere and many times have to order what they can say rather than what they want.

Somthing like this maybe - I don't know.

I still like the 10 cups of coffee idea - funny :D

[Perad]

Easiest way to feel things is to step in to a stutters shoes. Go to a supermarket and pretend you are having difficulty finding your card. Explain this to the cashier and maybe try to start a small conversation.

It won't make you feel what a stammer feels but you will get an idea of what the situation presents. People in the queue waiting for you to speak, the cashier who is probably having a dull day staring at you and a general sense of awkwardnes.

Then you need to picture your insides churning to get the words out while you are in this situation...

[Fahima]

Thanks to everyone who has contributed to this. It has helped me so so much. I will be sure to try out these suggestions in my presentation - they are all exactly the kinds of ideas I want, and they wouldn't be too hard to implement in the classroom either. I will get back to you all soon again.
Your time and replies are much appreciated! :)