Great Article to read on Stuttering......please take a look

[PatientPrsvrnce]

Friends,

I ran across this article on one man's perceptions of stuttering and how he overcame his stuttering. It's a great read in my estimation.....good luck friends

PatientPrsrvnce


http://www.mnsu.edu/comdis/kuster/Infostuttering/Harrison/john.htm

[shivaul]

wow i was blown away to know alot of people are around just like me. I had the same feelings as Mr. Harrison growing up and still do .My battle with Blocking has gotten a bit better since i was a youth, but i never went to college for that reason.I hated that about myself but im getting over it . Thank you for posting this article it was very personal for me to read .

[PatientPrsvrnce]

I'm really glad that you were able to get something out of this article. Thank you for posting, because I am reading this again because my stuttering is starting to get worse. The article makes a lot of sense to me, so it's something I've been working with. Together, we can all cope with this and help each other out day by day. Have a good one

PatientPrsrvrnce

[Dug23]

I've just finished reading the article - the feelings he explains and discusses; wanting to please everyone; overly sensitive; not showing emotions etc... that is me all over. I'm constantly worrying what people are thinking - just seeing people walking towards me in the street may get me stressed. I know it is stupid but im self conscious. I'm definately over senstive to what people are thinking when im talking to them about something - especially if they're professionals; and it drives my girlfriend mad that i can't show my emotions - she says quite often that she doesn't feel she knows me very well and i've been with her for a year and a half! I think i've just lost who I am. I'm playing it safe - and being as inconspicuous as possible. I've just got to find a way to break out of this shell i think and be me - I'm just not sure if i know who that is or how i'd go about doing that.

[PatientPrsvrnce]

Hey Dug,
I totally empathize with you. I have been exactly in the same situation as you and I can feel what your going through. I want to share with you some insight that has helped me and maybe can help you along the way as well. Before I go into the details, I want to share that I had fears of meeting, seeing or talking to almost anyone....because I feared I would stutter. I know that us as stutterers also have our good days from time to time. What I try to do is take what makes the good days good and use them as a pattern for behavior. I personally believe that we can take most of the controll over our stuttering by simply changing our attitutudes towards....EVERYTHING. I'm talking about..from the minute you get up in the morning to the minute you go to bed at night. We all stutter in here...but if we have a very confident attitude..this can go along way. Try to go to Starbucks...anyone....make as much small talk as possible...or at least try one extra thing you normally wouldn't. Mention..traffic, the weather, what happened locally...or anything else you can think of. Do one more thing than you would normally do....but you must always have this attitude in any situation. Be totally open to strangers wanting to talk to you (i.e. asking the time, ect.). I found that if I did the initiating, rather than hoping nobody paid attention to me...this greatly changed my speech. It's self confidence. I know...sounds easier said than done. This took me a while but I feel great. I still do have my ups and downs...but these small steps will help us achieve our goal.....and it's to be in controll more than we are now...not 100% fluency, which is more than likely not possible. All we need are incremental improvements...and to build on them day by day. Good luck dug...and feel free to e-mail me or respond to the post anytime...I will get back to you as soon as I can. Good luck friend.

Justin

[Invictus]

Yea, that article is great. John Harrisson has at least 10 articles which are very profound. I have had the chance to meet and talk to him a few times. The stuff he talks about is mind blowing.

[Dug23]

Thanks a lot for you reply. Funny - I was just about to head off to starbucks when i read your email. I'll give what you said a go and make me some smallchat :D I'll let you know how things go

[chrish15]

Thank you for posting that article, I am a current college student and can relate to that article extremely in the past and now. I am very sensative and always concerned what others are thinking of me. I get so caught up in what they are thinking, and don't even concern myself. I have thought about expanding my comfort zones in the past, but never really gotten into it. I feel that after reading this article I may have to try some of these things Mr. Harrison mentions.

Chris

[Jeff99]

in the Mcguire program we do a things call the Harrison workshops which is based on a program from him. he was in brisbane in march this year at the speak easy meeting trying to get Programs like the McGuire program known and that it helps. The main points he talks about really work like pushing out ur comfort zones. There is a saying Feel the fear do it anyway i think thats is a book he has written not 100% sure.

[bignick]

Thats a really good article and a lot of us can relate to what he is saying.
A think a fair few of us on this forum have got past the caring what people think stage and get on with our lives.
I am going to look into getting some of his books and seeing if they will help me.

[joxley1990]

I may as well of wrote that, just like me that is.

[Violet]

wow. omg. wow.
"Let’s see what my hexagon looked like at the age of 12. I had a belief that it was dangerous to show my emotions. It was dangerous to be assertive. I believed that I had to do everything correctly. I believed that everyone was judging me...not just my speech...but me. I had very low self-esteem. I didn’t think that I was very important. I had a fear of not being good enough. And a fear of acting out of character with my passive self-image."

that was me up untill about a couple of years ago.. i had to spend time at my father and step mothers house and i was so scared of disaproval (which is my step mothers talent) that i turned into nothing.. i was just empty? i would sit there for the week that i had to spend with them every holidays and not say anything except tentitive things like "m-may i please have a glass of water please? ... th-thankyou" i have always been above average height and i developed the belief that i took up far too much space (although i have never ever been overweight and if anything too thin) and i think i have finally completely almost gotten over that after years and years... it got to the point that in one of the weeks that i had to spend at my fathers when i was 13ish i lost 12 kilos.. and thats in a week.. and i would lose weight every holidays i spent there but normally not that much.. and i just look back on that and think that that is ridiculous i was something like 170cm and weighing only 46 kilos? like what the hell? and i wasnt anorexic cause it had nothing to do with wanting to loose weight and a fear of being fat.. it was more i felt obliged to use as little resources as possible and take up as little space as possible so that i wasnt in anyones way.. :(