Voluntary stuttering is, from my personal experience, the single
most productive speech tool or strategy at an adult stutterer's
disposal.
To put it simply, voluntary stuttering is the act of stuttering on purpose when speaking to another person. For example, a stutterer may enter into a speaking situation with a plan to voluntarily stutter on the very first words that he or she says. This is a powerful way to get stuttering immediately out into the open so there is no reason to hide it. By stuttering on purpose early in the conversation, the speaker controls when and how his stuttering appears, thus preventing his fears of stuttering from dominating the situation.
Some stutterers, clinicians and family members get upset at the mere mention of voluntary stuttering because it is counter intuitive. They frequently ask, "Why should someone stutter more when they want to stutter less?" Many are concerned with the emotional commitment that voluntary stuttering entails because it requires speakers to leave their comfort zones.
As with any speaking strategy, the only way to know if voluntary stuttering will be productive is through repeated assignments and experimentation. It is not enough to stutter on purpose three or four times and declare the tool useful or useless. One needs to experiment with voluntary stuttering many times and in a variety of situations before a judgment of its usefulness and utility can be safely made.
Stuttering on purpose targets a wide range of goals and objectives, including the following:
• desensitization, which reduces fear, builds courage, and increases the stutterer's ability to speak in challenging communicative situations;
• stuttering in an easy, forward-moving manner;
• increasing the ability of the speaker to listen and attend to what others are saying;
• demonstrating to others that stuttering is not shameful; and
• reducing moments of stuttering.
Practice assignments can help each person who stutters to work toward individualized goals following an individualized hierarchy.
One goal of stuttering on purpose is desensitization, in order to reduce the fear of stuttering. Many people who stutter attempt to hide or avoid their stuttering. For example, a stutterer who has grown to fear the letter "d" may edit out of her speech any words that begin with that letter. By stuttering voluntarily the speaker puts her stuttering out in the open immediately without attempting to hide or conceal it. One way a speaker can reduce the fear of saying words that begin with "d" is by voluntarily stuttering in many situations on this feared sound.
It has been my experience that the more a person uses voluntary stuttering, the more he or she begins to understand that stuttering is truly allowed. As one member of the Covert-S electronic mailing list explained, "[Voluntary stuttering] gives me a feeling that I am in control of my speech and when I really stutter it doesn't seem so bad.
Voluntary stuttering is also a valuable tool for helping the speaker control the variable and unpredictable aspects of the disorder. People who stutter often feel they have very little control over their speech and grow to view the absence of stuttering as "lucky fluency" and moments of stuttering as unlucky disfluency.
For example, it is exceedingly common for a person who stutters to find himself in speaking situations in which stuttering does not occur. In such situations the speaker often becomes increasingly fearful of the moment that his stuttering finally may reveal itself. By stuttering on purpose toward the beginning of a conversation, the speaker controls when his stuttering is first heard. Voluntary stuttering neutralizes the variable and intermittent nature of the disorder.The unpredictable is made predictable.
When using voluntary stuttering for desensitization purposes, the speaker should stutter in a clearly noticeable or "hard" manner so it is clear that he or she is a stutterer. In other words, the speaker should not "cheat" the situation by stuttering softly or in a subtle manner. The speaker also may consider using voluntary secondaries as well, such as voluntary eye blinking and voluntary head movements.
Beginning in my 20s, I used voluntary stuttering on a daily basis for more than two years to reduce my fears of stuttering and to help me say the exact words I wanted to say. One of my personal goals was that every time I ordered food at a restaurant or deli or asked a question in a store, I would stutter on purpose. The more I used voluntary stuttering, the less I feared stuttering.
Someone who had spent much of his life attempting to hide and conceal stuttering told me that voluntary stuttering was helping him to create a new and powerful "mental image" of himself. Using voluntary stuttering over a period of months, he began steadily replacing his self-image of a person hiding stuttering with a person stuttering confidently in a variety of situations. "I used to feel good only when I was fluent," he said. "By using voluntary stuttering, I found that I am also a good person when I stutter.
Sample practice assignments for desensitization are as follows:
• Talk to a close friend or relative for five minutes and stutter on purpose at least five or more times in a clearly noticeable fashion. (Example: "Mom, what t-t-time are we all m-m-meeting for dinner?") Be sure and stutter several times toward the beginning of the conversation to put your stuttering immediately out in the open.
• Go to stores and local establishments and ask questions while stuttering on purpose.
• Talk to peers or co-workers while using voluntary stuttering.
Another goal is moving forward through moments of stuttering. Many stutterers and speech-language pathologists advocate a form of easy stuttering to initiate speech and to move smoothly through moments of stuttering. This is often referred to as stuttering modification.
For example, during a stutter on a word such as "soda," the speaker may consciously attempt to move forward through the word by "pulling out" of the stutter. One way to do this is to prolong the "s" and then gently initiate the "o" vowel to continue moving forward through the word.
By entering into a situation using gentle and easy voluntary stuttering, the speaker lays the groundwork for turning real and struggled moments of stuttering into smooth and forward-moving stutters. During stuttering moments, many speakers feel confused and unable to think. This state has been described as a type of "dissociation," meaning that people who stutter try to separate themselves from challenging and emotionally charged speaking situations.
Similarly, it has been noted that speech tools and strategies are the hardest to use when they are most needed. During a stuttering moment, one stutterer explained, "We are so overwhelmed with all the things that we are 'supposed' to do that we become paralyzed and can't do anything.
Voluntary stuttering helps the speaker to stay "in the moment" when real stuttering occurs. Purposeful stuttering also prepares and "warms up" the speaker for using speech tools such as pull-outs during real moments of disfluency when they are most needed.
Sample practice assignments for moving forward through moments of stuttering are as follows:
• Speak to a friend or relative and voluntarily stretch the first sounds of words, taking care to stretch or prolong only the first sounds of words, where most stuttering occurs. (Example: W-w-would y-y-you like to go out for d-d-dinner tonight?")
• Speak in class, at work, or in other challenging situations and gently stretch the first sounds of words. Individuals may wish to challenge themselves by choosing words that begin with feared sounds or by choosing feared words.
• Ask strangers or passers-by questions using gentle, voluntary stretches. (Example: "S-s-sir, do you know w-w-where M-m-main Street is?")
A third objective of purposeful stuttering is increasing listening skills. Many stutterers report that they spend so much time worrying about speaking and the possibility of stuttering that they often have difficulty listening to what is said to them. One adult stutterer explained, "We're so concerned with our own speech that we lack the focus, time or mental energy to listen to someone else's.
Stuttering on purpose enables people who stutter to better focus on what others are saying. Once the stuttering is out in the open, there is nothing to hide. Instead of worrying about the possibility of stuttering, one is able to listen and focus on what others are saying.
A practice assignment for this objective is to stutter on purpose several times in a noticeable manner at the beginning of a conversation with a friend or relative and then consider if there is any change in the ability to attend to what the person is saying. Another sample assignment is to make a comment or ask a question using several noticeable voluntary stutters at the very beginning of a high-stress situation, such as a meeting at work or a classroom discussion, and observe the feeling of listening to others talk now that the stuttering is out in the open.
In my experience, most people who stutter demonstrate varying levels of shame during moments of stuttering. Most noticeably, people who stutter rarely initiate or maintain eye contact with others during stuttering moments. Looking away from the listener or at one's feet during a stuttering moment demonstrates that stuttering is shameful and something to be avoided.
Stuttering on purpose allows the speaker to practice stuttering while making eye contact. This demonstrates self-respect, not shame. As one stutterer put it, "Voluntary stuttering has proved to be a valuable weapon to combat how my stuttering is perceived by others because if I'm comfortable with it, other people tend to be as well.
One way to establish a comfort level with stuttering is by entering into a situation with the plan of stuttering voluntarily while initiating and maintaining eye contact. It is important to note that the speaker is not expected to maintain unbreaking eye contact during an entire conversation, which is unnatural and may be perceived by the listener as threatening or odd. Instead, the stutterer is asked to initiate and maintain eye contact during voluntary and real moments of stuttering.
Sample practice assignments for demonstrating to others that stuttering is not shameful are as follows:
• During a conversation with a friend or relative, stutter on purpose at least three times and make a point to initiate and maintain eye contact during the stutters. If the voluntary stutters turn into real stutters, continue to maintain eye contact.
• While ordering a meal at a restaurant, stutter at least three times to the waiter while initiating and maintaining eye contact during the stutters.
• Ask questions at stores or local businesses while initiating and maintaining eye contact during the stutters.
A final objective of stuttering on purpose is reducing moments of stuttering. Over time, I have observed, the use of voluntary stuttering reduces the speaker's fear of stuttering, which leads to reduced moments of real stuttering. This is in spite of the fact that voluntary stutters occasionally turn into "real" stutters.
As one adult said to me with great exasperation, "Why should I stutter on purpose if it sometimes causes me to get caught in real stuttering?" However, he acknowledged that when he used voluntary stuttering, his real stuttering tended to either disappear or be reduced. By entering into situations with the goal of stuttering on purpose, his fears of stuttering were greatly diminished, which reduced the frequency of stuttering.
Practice assignments for this goal are as follows:
• During an extended conversation with a friend or relative (at least five minutes), stutter on purpose in a clearly noticeable manner throughout the conversation. Observe if this leads to more or less "real" stutters. Repeat this assignment many times.
• Call local shops and stores and ask questions while stuttering noticeably on the very first words that you say. As you continue to make calls, observe if you are producing more or less "real" stutters.
• In a situation that you face on a regular basis, such as a meeting at work or a family dinner, use voluntary stuttering in a noticeable manner. Observe if you are producing more or less "real" stuttering. Written By Peter Reitzes
To put it simply, voluntary stuttering is the act of stuttering on purpose when speaking to another person. For example, a stutterer may enter into a speaking situation with a plan to voluntarily stutter on the very first words that he or she says. This is a powerful way to get stuttering immediately out into the open so there is no reason to hide it. By stuttering on purpose early in the conversation, the speaker controls when and how his stuttering appears, thus preventing his fears of stuttering from dominating the situation.
Some stutterers, clinicians and family members get upset at the mere mention of voluntary stuttering because it is counter intuitive. They frequently ask, "Why should someone stutter more when they want to stutter less?" Many are concerned with the emotional commitment that voluntary stuttering entails because it requires speakers to leave their comfort zones.
As with any speaking strategy, the only way to know if voluntary stuttering will be productive is through repeated assignments and experimentation. It is not enough to stutter on purpose three or four times and declare the tool useful or useless. One needs to experiment with voluntary stuttering many times and in a variety of situations before a judgment of its usefulness and utility can be safely made.
Stuttering on purpose targets a wide range of goals and objectives, including the following:
• desensitization, which reduces fear, builds courage, and increases the stutterer's ability to speak in challenging communicative situations;
• stuttering in an easy, forward-moving manner;
• increasing the ability of the speaker to listen and attend to what others are saying;
• demonstrating to others that stuttering is not shameful; and
• reducing moments of stuttering.
Practice assignments can help each person who stutters to work toward individualized goals following an individualized hierarchy.
One goal of stuttering on purpose is desensitization, in order to reduce the fear of stuttering. Many people who stutter attempt to hide or avoid their stuttering. For example, a stutterer who has grown to fear the letter "d" may edit out of her speech any words that begin with that letter. By stuttering voluntarily the speaker puts her stuttering out in the open immediately without attempting to hide or conceal it. One way a speaker can reduce the fear of saying words that begin with "d" is by voluntarily stuttering in many situations on this feared sound.
It has been my experience that the more a person uses voluntary stuttering, the more he or she begins to understand that stuttering is truly allowed. As one member of the Covert-S electronic mailing list explained, "[Voluntary stuttering] gives me a feeling that I am in control of my speech and when I really stutter it doesn't seem so bad.
Voluntary stuttering is also a valuable tool for helping the speaker control the variable and unpredictable aspects of the disorder. People who stutter often feel they have very little control over their speech and grow to view the absence of stuttering as "lucky fluency" and moments of stuttering as unlucky disfluency.
For example, it is exceedingly common for a person who stutters to find himself in speaking situations in which stuttering does not occur. In such situations the speaker often becomes increasingly fearful of the moment that his stuttering finally may reveal itself. By stuttering on purpose toward the beginning of a conversation, the speaker controls when his stuttering is first heard. Voluntary stuttering neutralizes the variable and intermittent nature of the disorder.The unpredictable is made predictable.
When using voluntary stuttering for desensitization purposes, the speaker should stutter in a clearly noticeable or "hard" manner so it is clear that he or she is a stutterer. In other words, the speaker should not "cheat" the situation by stuttering softly or in a subtle manner. The speaker also may consider using voluntary secondaries as well, such as voluntary eye blinking and voluntary head movements.
Beginning in my 20s, I used voluntary stuttering on a daily basis for more than two years to reduce my fears of stuttering and to help me say the exact words I wanted to say. One of my personal goals was that every time I ordered food at a restaurant or deli or asked a question in a store, I would stutter on purpose. The more I used voluntary stuttering, the less I feared stuttering.
Someone who had spent much of his life attempting to hide and conceal stuttering told me that voluntary stuttering was helping him to create a new and powerful "mental image" of himself. Using voluntary stuttering over a period of months, he began steadily replacing his self-image of a person hiding stuttering with a person stuttering confidently in a variety of situations. "I used to feel good only when I was fluent," he said. "By using voluntary stuttering, I found that I am also a good person when I stutter.
Sample practice assignments for desensitization are as follows:
• Talk to a close friend or relative for five minutes and stutter on purpose at least five or more times in a clearly noticeable fashion. (Example: "Mom, what t-t-time are we all m-m-meeting for dinner?") Be sure and stutter several times toward the beginning of the conversation to put your stuttering immediately out in the open.
• Go to stores and local establishments and ask questions while stuttering on purpose.
• Talk to peers or co-workers while using voluntary stuttering.
Another goal is moving forward through moments of stuttering. Many stutterers and speech-language pathologists advocate a form of easy stuttering to initiate speech and to move smoothly through moments of stuttering. This is often referred to as stuttering modification.
For example, during a stutter on a word such as "soda," the speaker may consciously attempt to move forward through the word by "pulling out" of the stutter. One way to do this is to prolong the "s" and then gently initiate the "o" vowel to continue moving forward through the word.
By entering into a situation using gentle and easy voluntary stuttering, the speaker lays the groundwork for turning real and struggled moments of stuttering into smooth and forward-moving stutters. During stuttering moments, many speakers feel confused and unable to think. This state has been described as a type of "dissociation," meaning that people who stutter try to separate themselves from challenging and emotionally charged speaking situations.
Similarly, it has been noted that speech tools and strategies are the hardest to use when they are most needed. During a stuttering moment, one stutterer explained, "We are so overwhelmed with all the things that we are 'supposed' to do that we become paralyzed and can't do anything.
Voluntary stuttering helps the speaker to stay "in the moment" when real stuttering occurs. Purposeful stuttering also prepares and "warms up" the speaker for using speech tools such as pull-outs during real moments of disfluency when they are most needed.
Sample practice assignments for moving forward through moments of stuttering are as follows:
• Speak to a friend or relative and voluntarily stretch the first sounds of words, taking care to stretch or prolong only the first sounds of words, where most stuttering occurs. (Example: W-w-would y-y-you like to go out for d-d-dinner tonight?")
• Speak in class, at work, or in other challenging situations and gently stretch the first sounds of words. Individuals may wish to challenge themselves by choosing words that begin with feared sounds or by choosing feared words.
• Ask strangers or passers-by questions using gentle, voluntary stretches. (Example: "S-s-sir, do you know w-w-where M-m-main Street is?")
A third objective of purposeful stuttering is increasing listening skills. Many stutterers report that they spend so much time worrying about speaking and the possibility of stuttering that they often have difficulty listening to what is said to them. One adult stutterer explained, "We're so concerned with our own speech that we lack the focus, time or mental energy to listen to someone else's.
Stuttering on purpose enables people who stutter to better focus on what others are saying. Once the stuttering is out in the open, there is nothing to hide. Instead of worrying about the possibility of stuttering, one is able to listen and focus on what others are saying.
A practice assignment for this objective is to stutter on purpose several times in a noticeable manner at the beginning of a conversation with a friend or relative and then consider if there is any change in the ability to attend to what the person is saying. Another sample assignment is to make a comment or ask a question using several noticeable voluntary stutters at the very beginning of a high-stress situation, such as a meeting at work or a classroom discussion, and observe the feeling of listening to others talk now that the stuttering is out in the open.
In my experience, most people who stutter demonstrate varying levels of shame during moments of stuttering. Most noticeably, people who stutter rarely initiate or maintain eye contact with others during stuttering moments. Looking away from the listener or at one's feet during a stuttering moment demonstrates that stuttering is shameful and something to be avoided.
Stuttering on purpose allows the speaker to practice stuttering while making eye contact. This demonstrates self-respect, not shame. As one stutterer put it, "Voluntary stuttering has proved to be a valuable weapon to combat how my stuttering is perceived by others because if I'm comfortable with it, other people tend to be as well.
One way to establish a comfort level with stuttering is by entering into a situation with the plan of stuttering voluntarily while initiating and maintaining eye contact. It is important to note that the speaker is not expected to maintain unbreaking eye contact during an entire conversation, which is unnatural and may be perceived by the listener as threatening or odd. Instead, the stutterer is asked to initiate and maintain eye contact during voluntary and real moments of stuttering.
Sample practice assignments for demonstrating to others that stuttering is not shameful are as follows:
• During a conversation with a friend or relative, stutter on purpose at least three times and make a point to initiate and maintain eye contact during the stutters. If the voluntary stutters turn into real stutters, continue to maintain eye contact.
• While ordering a meal at a restaurant, stutter at least three times to the waiter while initiating and maintaining eye contact during the stutters.
• Ask questions at stores or local businesses while initiating and maintaining eye contact during the stutters.
A final objective of stuttering on purpose is reducing moments of stuttering. Over time, I have observed, the use of voluntary stuttering reduces the speaker's fear of stuttering, which leads to reduced moments of real stuttering. This is in spite of the fact that voluntary stutters occasionally turn into "real" stutters.
As one adult said to me with great exasperation, "Why should I stutter on purpose if it sometimes causes me to get caught in real stuttering?" However, he acknowledged that when he used voluntary stuttering, his real stuttering tended to either disappear or be reduced. By entering into situations with the goal of stuttering on purpose, his fears of stuttering were greatly diminished, which reduced the frequency of stuttering.
Practice assignments for this goal are as follows:
• During an extended conversation with a friend or relative (at least five minutes), stutter on purpose in a clearly noticeable manner throughout the conversation. Observe if this leads to more or less "real" stutters. Repeat this assignment many times.
• Call local shops and stores and ask questions while stuttering noticeably on the very first words that you say. As you continue to make calls, observe if you are producing more or less "real" stutters.
• In a situation that you face on a regular basis, such as a meeting at work or a family dinner, use voluntary stuttering in a noticeable manner. Observe if you are producing more or less "real" stuttering. Written By Peter Reitzes
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