I developed a way to end my Stutter

[mayfieldga]

I am not a poet, but I thought this one up.

Little ricky slow at tongue talked to girls and was

severely shunned. (from 6 til 25)
Although in time his speech improved, though not
so for the bruise.

In those years, he became more isolated and
alone.
However in time, he learned to see his solitude as
home.

rick lynn
5012 Seaboard Ave.
Jacksonville, FL 32210
mayfieldga@bellsouth.net
http://learningtheory.homestead.com/Theory.html

Possible Cause and Cure for Stuttering

I have written a simpler version followed by a more comprehensive version. I just completed the later version. I feel it may offer a better explanation of my theory for cause and cure for stuttering. I hope both parts have something to offer until I can find a way to properly integrate them.

I grew up with a terrible stutter, and like many people who stutter, I was labeled slow by others. This held me back for many years. However, I did have the experience of living for a time, in a much more stable and secure environment. While living in that environment, I became conscious that my speech had improved to a small degree.

I feel stuttering is related to stress but not in the sense our society believes it to be. I feel it is not an immediate situation or combination of feelings at the time, but rather, beginning at an early age, a person is dealt with layers of mental frictions or accumulations of things they are not able to deal with effectively and resolve. As these layers accumulate, they create higher muscle tension. This muscle tension can become sufficiently intense so as to constrict the diaphragm and other areas, thus creating the stutter. Again mental frictions while occurring during situational stress is not the cause of stuttering but high average layers of mental frictions that have created high average muscle tension. I developed my learning theory to help me approximate the stability of a more stable environment. I found that applying these tools, I also corrected my stutter.

I know we cannot just relax to correct the problem. However, I think I hit on something that may help point to both the cause and cure for stuttering. In my learning theory, I showed how all of us are acclimated to different amounts (or layers) of mental conflicts, problems, etc., which accumulate to impede thinking, learning, and reflection. These layers can be more permanently lowered and improve thinking learning, and reflection time. While my theory helped to improve these areas, I also noticed another big help for me.

I feel that as internalized layers of mental frictions accumulate in our lives, this also creates higher muscle tension. In my case and others who stutter, this muscle tension acts to constrict airflow from the diaphragm and other areas, which create the stuttering. We cannot relax to remove this muscle tension, for it is rooted in layers of residual stress, which we have accumulated. I feel there are two large tools we can use to help more permanently lower layers of residual stress over time and in turn, more permanently reduce the muscle tension that creates the stutter.

1. We can learn to understand more so each day, the elements of our individual circumstances, responsibilities, and other things like the weights or values we place on elements in our life. Then, we can begin to understand and approach those elements in our life more delicately each day to more permanently resolve and remove layers of residual stress from our life. This may require a change in some weights or values we are currently placing in our life. As we learn to resolve and prevent other mental frictions, we will be able to more permanently reduce layers of mental frictions. This will help lower and maintain a fewer layers of mental frictions and also lower our average muscle tension.

2. Second, we can learn to understand more so, the delicate dynamics of pace and intensity in approaching mental work in our life - As our pace and intensity in approaching problems, academics, etc. exceed our immediate knowledge, confidence, and experience, we create exponentially greater mental friction. We can learn to approach elements of both old and new mental work more delicately and more slowly at first to also help more permanently reduce layers of residual stress. I am not talking about speech but the way we approach elements in our everyday life that given “incorrect pace and intensity” leads to higher and more intense layers of average mental frictions.

I designed these tools primarily to break the myth of permanence in ability by showing how our individual environments do greatly affect thinking, learning, and reflection time. However, in my case, the more permanent lowering of residual stress also reduced muscle tension, and in turn, enabled greater ease of speech.

In a physical way, I also learned to read openly, passages from pages and learning to express the whole sounds of each syllable by somewhat exaggeratingly opening my mouth to express those individual sounds (not prolongation but more full). I would carry out the full value of each syllable in words. For instance, if I were reading the word, "elephant", I would imagine a circle around each syllable and then pronounce the "e" fully to fill the imaginary circle around each syllable, then the "le", and then "phant". I think by exaggeratingly and more slowly carrying these syllables to their fullest value and practicing this at least once a day, I was creating more smoothness and rhythm to my speech. I feel I was also allowing my speech to slow somewhat by allowing a friction more time to create the individual sounds. When I talked in public, I would still use but in a much more subtle way, the expanded syllables of the words I was saying. For those from the South (and LOL, from southeast Atlanta) I found a little bit of soul helps also.

When I had more permanently lowered my average residual stress sufficiently, I eliminated my stutter. Apparently the reduced muscle tension allowed various muscles to work more smoothly and freely, thus allowing my speech to become very fluent. There are rare occasions when there is a muscle constriction and an occasional stutter. However, my circumstances and responsibilities are not the norm, so I am grateful for the fluent speech I do have despite my circumstances.

As to why say, others and myself are affected this way and many are not. I can only theorize that perhaps such persons as myself, from a young age, are more sensitive (in the sense of being more intellectually aware and perhaps more insightful) to elements and problems in our life. Also, perhaps such ones as myself may tend to internalize, either by choice or necessity some of the complexities of various problems thrown in our way. This internalization could lead to not just higher muscle tension but over time, sufficient higher muscle tension to impede speech. This muscle tension could then become an acclimated point where our bodies maintain that level through socialized habit and perhaps exacerbated from the habit and experience of impeded speech. Even without problems around us, due to both higher layers of residual stress and our bodily habit of maintaining that amount of muscle tension could very well continue to create a stutter.

The effects of lowering muscle tension using my theory to improve speech can also be researched using initial biofeedback readings over time (one for a baseline and other initial readings to check improvement - (Note, NOT using biofeedback to relax but only to check progress) along with EMG measurements over time and checking for improvements in speech for stutterers using my cognitive tools.

Last, I do come from Southeast Atlanta. Perhaps my move away from the there years ago and its effects led to greater internalized residual stress which led to the greater muscle tension. I have learned to keep myself more in touch with that I left behind. This also helps my speech.

My learning theory is on my home site at http://learningtheory.homestead.com/Theory.html It is designed for education and learning. The idea of layers of residual stress that must be resolved for mental and emotional stability and growth instead of our present idea of simply exertion of energy or immediate problems as stress is a new concept. It shows how our individual environments do greatly affect our lives in many ways and how our minds are more complex than presently given credit for.
More comprehensive version of stuttering: cause and cure

This section on stuttering is more comprehensive, but perhaps more complicated. In my theory, I state that stress is made up of both conscious and subconscious layers of residual mental conflicts or work we are dealing with. When we are performing mental work, our minds are also working on other layers of mental work, situations, problem, plans, etc. All of these in some ways create mental work or unfinished understandings if you will.

As I said in my theory related to stuttering, it is not necessary for the problem of stuttering to be the result of any immediate problem or situation. I feel even before the stuttering actually begins, usually at a young age, children who are continually having to deal with overwhelming problems on their own and/or (more prominently and) being placed in situations they have no control over and thus may internalize problems and stresses from parents, siblings, etc., even by osmosis of environment, may create an internalization of high residual stress, which in turn, creates much higher muscle tension. If this internalization of conflicts and resulting muscle tension increases sufficiently, it begins to tighten the muscles around the diaphragm and other areas, thus constricting air flow, which then impedes our speech. Over a period of time, I feel we develop three problems working together.

One: we become acclimated to this raised average amount or layers of residual stress from childhood, which can last for years, thus maintaining the high muscle tension and the stutter.

Two: we also become acclimated to that muscle tension or in effect, our muscle tension may tend to habituate to tighten up when moments of history of problems with stuttering are brought to mind, even for an old reading. In addition, there is the habit of constricted air intake and use of air when speaking. I think this may be caused by thinking more about saying the words and also the more constricted diaphragm not allowing as much air as needed.

Three: there is also usually much over-reacting due to the stutter created and no doubt simply an honest reaction by children when facing a stutter that when trying ever harder to get the words out, the extra effort tends to throw the habit or conditioning of muscle tension into an even more constricted position, thus making it worse. Connected with this problem is our own, perhaps also bad habit of forming and speaking words too quickly for good, smooth, fluent speech to occur.

Okay, now I feel the effort to curing the problem needs to begin on all three fronts. One: we need to begin working to become much more cognizant of the elements in our lives and layers of residual stress, which our minds are dealing with, both consciously and subconsciously. The treatment for this is in my theory for understanding, resolving, and setting up principles or altered values to more permanently remove those layers of residual stress and like conflicts in the future. More permanently reducing layers of residual stress also requires learning to use the dynamics of pace and intensity in approaching mental work, situations, problems, etc. I am not talking about speech but rather more appropriate pace for approaching all mental/emotional/physical work more delicately/more correctly and slower at first to also help eliminate higher average stress and help set up a more calm mechanism for dealing with various problems that are usually exacerbated when trying too hard. As our pace and intensity in approaching any mental/emotional work exceeds our immediate knowledge and experience, we create much higher (exponentially higher mental friction), which drives up higher our average stress. The point here is to begin a more continuously smoother approach to everything we do each day to help eliminate and/or less aggravate layers of residual stress which are creating the higher muscle tension in the first place.

Two: we need to understand that even when at rest and not under any problems, our acclimated muscle tension is still present and still impeding our ability to bring the air out freely and smoothly. This requires time on our part in using the above tools (mentioned in my learning theory apart from the stuttering article) in helping us begin to more permanently reduce layers of residual stress and more permanently recondition our muscles for lower average muscle tension. This will hopefully cause us to be more mindful of the problem of muscle tension when speaking so we may try to approach the process more delicately from that standpoint alone. I feel we should also be more mindful of taking in more air before speaking and just plain practicing expanding the diaphragm with air to help recondition it for proper speech.

Three: we need to begin relearning how to speak more correctly and more smoothly along with those other areas involved. We need to begin relearning how to form sounds, syllables, and words, then how to more slowly and "more fully" say and create smooth, free flowing sentences from them. I would early on in this process, begin more fully (almost exaggeratedly) expressing letter sounds more correctly both in sound and tempo. I would do the same for various syllables in sentences and paragraphs such as the word, "elephant" - "e" "le" "phant" etc. Note this is not prolongation or extending the sound length. I feel prolongation is incorrect and not good. I am talking about say, taking your mouth and expressing the sounds, syllables, and words to their greatest value, like drawing a circle around the syllables and then stretching out those syllables. This also calls for better, more free movement in tone and inflection, which I feel has been somewhat hindered in the past by the muscle tension and the stutter. I feel these two areas alone can really help create more fluent speech until the lower average stress and lower muscle tension is created from work in those areas.

[Vermillion]

I kind of had a hard time understanding your post.

You say that muscle tension becomes "embodied" and that causes the stutter?

Well, then how do we reduce muscle tension? The only thing you mentioned doing (to overcome stuttering) was to practice exaggerating syllables once a day. What else did you do?

[mayfieldga]

I am not sure where you got the word embodied from. I don't use that word.

I do feel that average stress does create muscle tension. I feel for some children who are under much more average stress from events and circumstances out of their control there occurs sufficient high average stress to create high muscle tension. This high muscle tension is enough to constrict air flow thus creating a stutter. Only until average muscle tension is removed can air flow be obtained more freely. This means lowering average stress.

Just relaxing will not do it. We must lower layers of mental friction to more permanently reduce the average stress that is creating the higher muscle tension.

I feel you must be reading parts of another post. My article from site also from this post shows how average stress is connected with higher muscle tension. Have to read whole article to understand.

[Standingtall]

I will print it out later, right now I don't have the time to read it all. I'm glad you found something that works for you. I understood everything so far as your background and know how it feels that people think you are slow or have some kind mental illness.

[Asif]

Condensed version = "You're a mess.
But it is possible to unravel the mess all the way back to where you were not a mess."
Not for the instant gratification crowd.
But valid, nonetheless, for those who have a particular kind of stutter, out of the innumerable different types.

[mayfieldga]

I hope no one is fooled by the idea that stuttering is some organic problem with the mind or other. The whole sense gleamed from no stutter while singing shows no organic or real problem that would be in effect all of the time. My idea on stuttering is it is related to a time usually very early in youth, where there is sufficient stress in that young person's life and that stress is internalized (children are not as able to deal with some things). This then creates sufficient higher muscle tension that inhibits air flow from the diaphragm. That creates the stutter.

Now, the combination of internalized stress and high muscle tension lasting for a period of time creates more memory for that muscle tension to remain tight and inhibit air flow more often. So unless you lower your average stress or layers of mental frictions for a time, that muscle tension will remain in place and create more stutter.
My theory shows how to redefine average stress as layers of mental frictions. Then provides a way to more permanently reduce layers of mental frictions to lower average stress. This will then help reduce average muscle tension over time to a memory that is more relaxed and so correct the stutter. Of course if persons like the genetic models the perceive some organinc dysfunction causing a stutter that is up to those persons. This may seem complicated for some but provides a way to solve the problem as it has for me. Now, each one can now judge for himself or herself if this will apply to them personally. I hope it does. I know I will not be perceiving my occasional stutter as some organic dysfunction and will not need to purchase a device to help cure it.