need advice...

[jerseyguy]

I suffer from disfluency, which means I get stuck on words, sometimes for a long time, and end up filling the void with "heuuuu"... it can take me 5 minutes to get a sentence out. I have been to a great therapist, which has given me advice and confidence (i.e slow down speech, "sing" while speaking, finger tap, use my abdominal muscles, etc...). When I get out of her office, all the techniques work great, but after a couple of days, I'm back to where I started. It takes so much out of me to "not stutter", it's a constant battle in my head to finger tap/slow down/use loud voice/sing every time I need to speak... At the end of the day, I'm drained and mentally exhausted.
has anyone else had this problem, and if so, how do you deal with this issue? how can you stay fluent and not stutter for more then a few days?

[JR123]

welcome to the club man!!
lol, you can read posts in this forum, most of them contains useful tips on how to overcome stuttering, some of them my get you down and some would lift your spirts up in the skies!!
good luck mate!!

[sunshine]

I suffer from disfluency, which means I get stuck on words, sometimes for a long time, and end up filling the void with "heuuuu"... it can take me 5 minutes to get a sentence out. I have been to a great therapist, which has given me advice and confidence (i.e slow down speech, "sing" while speaking, finger tap, use my abdominal muscles, etc...). When I get out of her office, all the techniques work great, but after a couple of days, I'm back to where I started. It takes so much out of me to "not stutter", it's a constant battle in my head to finger tap/slow down/use loud voice/sing every time I need to speak... At the end of the day, I'm drained and mentally exhausted.
has anyone else had this problem, and if so, how do you deal with this issue? how can you stay fluent and not stutter for more then a few days?
I know how you feel. I have both fluent and horribly unfluent days when I cannot get a word out, even if I try it takes too long, someone interrupts me, and then I give up (this is usally at a work meeting or somewhere I'm not 100% comfortable--like with only a few people where I feel extrememly comfortable. I am struggling with this probably as much as you are, feeling sad and frustrated and losing hope at times (today was a difficult day for me). However, when I think about my fluent days, I usually think of myself as follows:
1. Taking a breathe, speaking slowly--even when I'm not feeling tense, because then I believe that you won't think you sound weird or different when you do speak slowly when tense.
2. If people tend to interrupt you, tell them to HOLD ON politely, put your finger up, etc..or say...I'm losing my train of thought, let me me see how I will word this, etc. (unfortubantly, I do block on LET from time to time).
3. Remember the slow EASY ONSETS, LIGTH CONTACT STRATEGY, and tell yourself: IT DOESN"T TAKE WORK TO TALK, just let it flow (easier said then done, lol)
4. From the books I've read and from speech therapy, I have learned that the minute you feel sense, do 5 second breathing (in through the nose 3 to 5 seconds, out through the mouth 3 to 5 seconds)--this relaxes you and people don't even really notice your doing this, especially if you do this while someeone else is talking preparing for when you have to talk. Taking a breathe before talkign also helps.
5. If I feel tense, I will look away while I'm saying a word I think will block on or when I am introducing myself (I know people say use eye contact, but at least for me, its hard enough blocking, when I look away I don't block as much).

Hope this helps, I'm still trying to raise my confidence myeslf. Do you have any suggestions for me?? Today was a rough day for me, and my confidence was lower today.

[JOSH T]

From the little I have read techniques such as singing and finger tapping are gimmicky and won't help you in the long run. I don't know why a good therapist would tell you to do these things.

I also suffer from blocks & when I get to a word I know I'm going to block on I try to slow down and ease into the word.

[amey]

I suffer from disfluency, which means I get stuck on words, sometimes for a long time, and end up filling the void with "heuuuu"... it can take me 5 minutes to get a sentence out. I have been to a great therapist, which has given me advice and confidence (i.e slow down speech, "sing" while speaking, finger tap, use my abdominal muscles, etc...). When I get out of her office, all the techniques work great, but after a couple of days, I'm back to where I started. It takes so much out of me to "not stutter", it's a constant battle in my head to finger tap/slow down/use loud voice/sing every time I need to speak... At the end of the day, I'm drained and mentally exhausted.
has anyone else had this problem, and if so, how do you deal with this issue? how can you stay fluent and not stutter for more then a few days?

We all deal with this. The problem is that you havent dealt with your feelings about stuttering and the fear that you have. YOu are trying to "not stutter" and that is the problem, I think. These techiniques are little more than a band aid that falls off in a few days. --The core of the situation is not being addressed, I can tell by you talking about "staying fluent".-- You are never going to stay fluent. You are a person who stutters. While we can MANAGE our stuttering,fluency should not be the goal. I am not saying this to be mean, it is just the truth.-- you need to let the stuttering out. Become more confortable with showing your real stuttering, and THEN techniques can be applied.

[Bonafide]

We all deal with this. The problem is that you havent dealt with your feelings about stuttering and the fear that you have. YOu are trying to "not stutter" and that is the problem, I think. These techiniques are little more than a band aid that falls off in a few days. --The core of the situation is not being addressed, I can tell by you talking about "staying fluent".-- You are never going to stay fluent. You are a person who stutters. While we can MANAGE our stuttering,fluency should not be the goal. I am not saying this to be mean, it is just the truth.-- you need to let the stuttering out. Become more confortable with showing your real stuttering, and THEN techniques can be applied.

Great post!!!

It all boils down to how confident you are in your speech. If you're worried about stuttering, you're going to stutter a lot. Stay relax and let it flow.

Confidence is the best technique, IMO.

[lieky]

We all deal with this. The problem is that you havent dealt with your feelings about stuttering and the fear that you have. YOu are trying to "not stutter" and that is the problem, I think. These techiniques are little more than a band aid that falls off in a few days. --The core of the situation is not being addressed, I can tell by you talking about "staying fluent".-- You are never going to stay fluent. You are a person who stutters. While we can MANAGE our stuttering,fluency should not be the goal. I am not saying this to be mean, it is just the truth.-- you need to let the stuttering out. Become more confortable with showing your real stuttering, and THEN techniques can be applied.

I also agree completely. I'm 22 and until like a month ago I've lived a life we all know, so there is no need to describe it all over again. The point is to come out. To accept myself for who I am. To tell people I'm talking to - hey, I am only stuttering, I'm not retarded. And to talk about feelings with my friends. To make new friends. It is very stressful to suddenly come out (as in my case), it's an enormous psychological load to deal with. Half the time I feel like I was born again and half the time I think I'll go insane. But still it's like heaven compared to those times before. My life just came to the point where I couldn't take it anymore. For God's sake I need people, I need to communicate with them, I need a girlfriend! Damn it. (yeah it's not that easy i know, but it's not impossible)