About Stuttering

1
About Stuttering

• Part II
• A Manual for Stuttering Therapy

2
You Are Not Alone Here is what one high school
senior said

• I never knew anybody else could feel like I
  felt. Scared to get out of school because I
  didnt know where Id turn. Whod hire a
  stutterer? Whod talk to a guy who couldnt even
  say his name straight? Sure, I Had friends.
  Friends who were going to college or had jobs
  lined up. Me, I was too scared to keep an
  interview. What could I do? Everything was
  bottled inside me until I heard other kids in my
  speech class, who also stuttered, talking about
  the same feelings I had. It was like opening
  myself up and letting everything gush out. It was
  a relief to know I wasnt an odd ball. Someone
  else was going through the same experiences and
  still living.

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8 out 1,000 people stutter that is about 15
million in the world.Would you rather stutter
or.

• Wear glasses
• Have a hearing loss
• Blush
• Be too small
• Be poor
• Have a squeaky voice

• Have one arm
• Spend one year in the hospital
• Break a leg
• Have no parents
• Be blind
• Be overweight
• Be too tall

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What causes stuttering?

• 3 Different Theories
• Physical Causes inherited, or muscles are not
  ready for physical demands
• Learned Way of talking
• Emotional Reasons

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PHYSICAL

• How old were you when you first began stuttering?
• Do you stutter when you read aloud?
• Do you stutter only when you talk to people?
• Does anyone else in your family stutter?
• Has anyone else in your family ever stuttered?
• Do you have a reading difficulty?
• Were you delayed in learning to talk originally?
• Is your non-stuttered speech smooth?
• Do you talk very swiftly and in spurts?

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EmotionsHave you experienced any of these?

• Not being as good as the next person
• Not being able to do something as well as you
  would like
• Being afraid of failing
• Fearing that you are expected to be perfect
• Fearing that you will be hurt by someone
• Fearing that no one cares
• Being unsure
• Fearing criticism
• Other(p. 20-21)

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Learned BehaviorHow might these make someone
stutter more?

• It seemed like whenever I started to say
  something and got jammed up someone would say
  dont be in such a hurry or stop stammering.
• It made me so mad when the kids started saying
  spit it out and then theyd laugh.
• My teachers never called on me because I
  stuttered. Like it was a disease or something.
• I always got blamed for everything because I
  stuttered and couldnt talk my way out of
  trouble.
• I couldnt play with the kids next door. Their
  mother thought theyd catch my stuttering.
• Everything had to be perfect around our house.
  My was of talking just wasnt good enough, so
  every time I opened my mouth I was told you can
  say that better than that.

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The best way to take over the stuttering is to
get to work and tackle it until it is under your
control

• The only road to take if you want to get there,
  is a hard, bumpy one.
• There are no short cuts.
• Fear plays a big part.

Lets find out more about fear.
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• Stuttering is like an iceberg
• People see the surface
• The surface is small
• Underneath is large
• People dont see the
• underneath
• We often try to keep it
• hidden
• Makes the lower part bigger
• Makes the visible part bigger
• It has you going in a circle

stuttering
fear
anger
shame
avoidance
disgust
10
Stuttering
I hate my stuttering
The next time I meet a hard Situation, Im
afraid Ill start stuttering
Im disgusted With my stuttering
If I avoid my Stuttering, my Fear gets stronger
Im ashamed Of my stuttering And my
feelings About it
I want to avoid My stuttering Because it makes Me
feel this way
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Let us look at it another way

• Your stuttering is like a tornado always
  hanging over your head and getting bigger as it
  mixes in all your feelings about stuttering.
  What are your feelings about stuttering? P.27

12
Fear Springs from IgnoranceConquering any fear
means that you must go through an experience
which at first is unpleasant

• Stop running or avoiding
• Gather up your courage and make contact
• Become acquainted
• Dont run away
• Every time you run away you increase your fear.

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Down with Fear Begin by finding out what is
toughest for you.Which are difficult? Number in
order, one being the worst

• ___Talking to teachers
• ___Telling my name
• ___Getting the first word out
• ___Talking with girls
• ___When I get mad
• ___If I am excited
• ___Meeting a somebody new
• ___Talking to adult guests
• ___Breaking into a conversation
• ___Sharing ideas

• ___Talking in class
• ___Answering the telephone
• ___Giving a report
• ___Reading out loud
• ___Talking with the guys
• ___Talking about girls
• ___Making a phone call
• ___Talking with older people
• ___Talking to parents
• ___Talking to a store clerk
• ___Answering questions

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Many have given helpful hintsThey fail, and even
may become part of the stuttering.

• Hold your breath
• Relax
• Stop and think what you want to say
• Bite your tongue
• Talk slowly
• Take a deep breath
• Substitute for an easier word
• Speak another language
• Use ventriloquism
• Speak in a higher voice
• Speak in a lower voice
• Do not think so fast
• P.34

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Excess Baggage

• On the following slides are six principles you
  can use to reach your goal
• Find the statement that gives the best reason for
  accepting these ideas
• Be prepared to discuss your choice

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1. Your stuttering need not hurt you

• It takes away the fear of stuttering
• If your stuttering does not hurt you, there is
  nothing to fear
• It is not the stuttering that hurts, it is your
  feeling about it that hurts
• You just ignore the stuttering and it will not
  hurt you.

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2. Your fluency does not do you any good if it
makes you more fearful when you stutter

• You do not have to be fluent to have good speech.
• If you are fluent, you are not a stutterer
• Each time you have fluent speech it makes it
  easier for you to conquer your speech problem
• Your beginning goal in working on your stuttering
  should not be fluent speech
• Each time you are fluent it makes you feel worse
  when you do stutter

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3. Most of what you call your stuttering is made
up of these things the crutches you are using to
prevent stuttering, and your struggles to prevent
it.

• The crutches you use help you with the struggle
  to prevent stuttering
• When the stutterer stops trying to prevent
  stuttering by running away from it or struggling
  with it, the problem is not as great
• If you blink your eyes or tap your feet before
  you try a hard word people will notice your
  stuttering more than if you only stuttered on the
  word
• Struggling to say a hard word makes it easier to
  say it the next time.

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4. You keep yourself a stutterer by trying to
avoid stuttering.

• Each time you avoid a word, sound or difficult
  speech, you make it harder to meet that word,
  sound or situation the next time
• Each crutch you use helps you prevent
  stuttering
• Crutches make it easier to avoid stuttering
• The best way to work on your stuttering is to
  meet it head on by throwing away crutches and
  avoidances

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5. There is nothing to be ashamed of when you
stutter and there is nothing to be proud of when
you are fluent

• When you are proud of your fluency you are
  working toward the wrong goal
• Until you can lose the feeling of pride for your
  lucky fluency and lose the feeling of shame for
  your unlucky stuttering you have not really
  started to face your problem
• Your fear keeps you ashamed of your stuttering
  and proud of your free periods of speech
• When you begin to face your fear of stuttering
  you start to decrease the need to feel ashamed of
  your speech problems and your fluent speech does
  not seem so important

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6. It is possible to stutter easily and speak
easily

• It helps a stutterer to know that it is possible
  to stutter easily and speak easily
• If a person can stutter easily, he is no longer a
  stutterer
• Learning to speak easily is the first goal a
  stutterer works for
• While stuttering easily and speaking easily is
  not the first goal a stutterer tries to achieve,
  it is important that he realize it is one of the
  final goals he may expect to achieve

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You cannot choose not to stutterbut you can
choose to be open about speaking

• Getting more or the iceberg above the surface
• Being yourself
• Not struggling and fighting against each block
• Looking your listener calmly in the eye
• Never giving up in a speech attempt once started
• Never avoiding words or ducking out of situations
• Taking the initiative in speaking even when doing
  a lot of stuttering

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Some Final Words from Ex-Stutterers

• I havent had trouble stuttering for a year now.
  Even if I did, it wouldnt tie me up like before,
  cause I know what its all about. I even tell
  people I am a stutterer or was.
• Sure I was a stutterer! I can talk as well as
  anybody else now. Who needs to hide. I found out
  people listen when youve got something to say,
  whether you stutter or not.
• Wouldnt it be funny if the who world stuttered?
  Ha! Ha! Then Id be a normal speaker! I can make
  a joke about my stuttering now. It doesnt scare
  me.
• I am a stutterer! That was the hardest thing for
  me to say to anyone. Its easy now.

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You have some work ahead of you

• You need to get at your feelings
• You need to overcome fear
• You need to get hold of your stuttering and put
  it in its place
• You need to be free of your stuttering