ajsmith
11-02-2011, 12:41 PM
Hi all. If any of you have the time, or is looking for a new technique, I would very much appreciate if you would try this and tell me how you got on. It has some basis in psychology, anatomy and motor movement, and I hope it will provide a more long-term and meaningful solution to other techniques. I have quite a severe stammer, but this seems to be helping so far. However, it is early days, and I would be very interested to hear what other people think of it, both in theory and hopefully in practie.
'Mechanical Technique'
Theory
There is clearly a big psychological factor in stammering - this is illustrated by how it can vary depending on the mood we are in, etc. However, I believe we should try viewing it as purely a physical ('mechanical') problem, because this is how it manifests itself - (i.e. not being able to produce adequate speech sounds). My theory for *why* people stammer (not in general, just underlying this technique) is that the sufferer momentarily 'forgets' the mechanical procedure used to produce a word. This is, after all, a delicate process. The main points are -
1. The top of your throat constricts slightly to vibrate as you exhale, producing a sound (e.g. 'aaahhh')
2. The vowel sound is modulated by mouth movements (lift tongue up slightly to go from 'aaaahhh' to 'eeeee', for example.
3. Consonants altered by tongue ('tuh', shh, sss, 'cuh' etc) and lips ('buh', wwwuh).
The Technique
Reading aloud in a soft voice is a standard technique, which I find helps, but does not really get to the 'core', or the 'essence' of stammering, and so does not really provide a permanent solution (because it has to be practised constantly, and it does not feel as if you have solved the enigma of why/how you stammer at all).
My technique is similar - I read a book aloud (best - a novel with good dialogue). I do this very slowly, and concentrate on how I am forming the word. I think about how it originates from the air coming up through my lungs, and then focus on how my mouth moves to form particular syllables. At first, this will require you to stretch a syllable out of a few seconds (and consequently sound like you have a lobotomy). I am not asking you to do this when talking normally, just practise reading aloud alone, thinking hard about the mechanical movements used to produce words. This becomes meditative, and you should hopefully start feeling very calm, maybe a bit hypnotised. I then talk as smoothly as possible, with the proper english pronounciations, how I wish I could if I did not stammer.
When I am conversing with people as normal, and start to stammer, I just try to remember how I was talking in practise, and think how easy it is to say the word - by simply exhaling, and moulding the syllable with my mouth. I don't often have to think about this on every word, because once I have correctly dealt with one 'rogue syllable' (that is, not by forcing the word in a crude way, as we are often tempted to), the rest of the sentence (or just the next word or two at least) should come out in the same smooth, clear manner.
-----------
Other Notes
The more you practise the reading aloud/meditation, the easier and faster it should be to summon up the correct way in normal speech/conversation.
Also, try not to sound too lobotomised, e.g., try to remember adding emotion and prosody as you read aloud.
Book recommendations: Dialogue is good because you can practise acting out natural speech. I also books with poetic-sounding prose, because it matches the smooth speech, most notably The Great Gatsby. Catch 22 has lots of dialogue (and is very funny, and actually a very easy read). Lucky Jim (by Kingsley Amis) I also read recently and enjoyed very much (very funny also), and is recommended because the complicated sentence structure should be a challenge, and good practise.
----
Thanks for reading!
Alban
'Mechanical Technique'
Theory
There is clearly a big psychological factor in stammering - this is illustrated by how it can vary depending on the mood we are in, etc. However, I believe we should try viewing it as purely a physical ('mechanical') problem, because this is how it manifests itself - (i.e. not being able to produce adequate speech sounds). My theory for *why* people stammer (not in general, just underlying this technique) is that the sufferer momentarily 'forgets' the mechanical procedure used to produce a word. This is, after all, a delicate process. The main points are -
1. The top of your throat constricts slightly to vibrate as you exhale, producing a sound (e.g. 'aaahhh')
2. The vowel sound is modulated by mouth movements (lift tongue up slightly to go from 'aaaahhh' to 'eeeee', for example.
3. Consonants altered by tongue ('tuh', shh, sss, 'cuh' etc) and lips ('buh', wwwuh).
The Technique
Reading aloud in a soft voice is a standard technique, which I find helps, but does not really get to the 'core', or the 'essence' of stammering, and so does not really provide a permanent solution (because it has to be practised constantly, and it does not feel as if you have solved the enigma of why/how you stammer at all).
My technique is similar - I read a book aloud (best - a novel with good dialogue). I do this very slowly, and concentrate on how I am forming the word. I think about how it originates from the air coming up through my lungs, and then focus on how my mouth moves to form particular syllables. At first, this will require you to stretch a syllable out of a few seconds (and consequently sound like you have a lobotomy). I am not asking you to do this when talking normally, just practise reading aloud alone, thinking hard about the mechanical movements used to produce words. This becomes meditative, and you should hopefully start feeling very calm, maybe a bit hypnotised. I then talk as smoothly as possible, with the proper english pronounciations, how I wish I could if I did not stammer.
When I am conversing with people as normal, and start to stammer, I just try to remember how I was talking in practise, and think how easy it is to say the word - by simply exhaling, and moulding the syllable with my mouth. I don't often have to think about this on every word, because once I have correctly dealt with one 'rogue syllable' (that is, not by forcing the word in a crude way, as we are often tempted to), the rest of the sentence (or just the next word or two at least) should come out in the same smooth, clear manner.
-----------
Other Notes
The more you practise the reading aloud/meditation, the easier and faster it should be to summon up the correct way in normal speech/conversation.
Also, try not to sound too lobotomised, e.g., try to remember adding emotion and prosody as you read aloud.
Book recommendations: Dialogue is good because you can practise acting out natural speech. I also books with poetic-sounding prose, because it matches the smooth speech, most notably The Great Gatsby. Catch 22 has lots of dialogue (and is very funny, and actually a very easy read). Lucky Jim (by Kingsley Amis) I also read recently and enjoyed very much (very funny also), and is recommended because the complicated sentence structure should be a challenge, and good practise.
----
Thanks for reading!
Alban