Stuttering Myths,Beliefs And Straight Talk For Teens

Compiled by Peter Reitzes, M.A., CCC-SLP, and Greg Snyder, Ph.D.

One of the most frustrating aspects about stuttering is that it is a variable disorder. In other words, sometimes you may stutter quite a bit and other times you may not. Because it is so variable and complex, stuttering is often misunderstood. This leads many people to believe myths about stuttering. This brochure discusses some common myths and “debunks” them with straight talk about stuttering.
Myths, Beliefs and Straight Talk I will outgrow my stuttering. Many teenagers and adults who stutter hope or believe that they will stop stuttering one day. Many deny that stuttering can be a problem or may even deny that their stuttering exists at all. Others may want stuttering to go away so much that they simply begin believing that it just might. For example, a 9th grade person who stutters was asked how he was going to manage his stuttering in college. The young man replied, “I won’t stutter in college.” This belief may be due to a couple of reasons, such as denial or hope.
Unfortunately, most people who recover from stuttering do so in early childhood. For example, most people start stuttering between 2-4 years of age, so if stuttering is going to go away by itself, it usually does so by 7 or 8 years of age. If you continue stuttering into your teenage years, you will most likely continue to stutter throughout adulthood. The good news is that there are many options and choices in managing stuttering productively. However, continuing to avoid dealing with stuttering due to denial or a hope or belief that it might simply “go away” tends to make our problems worse, not better.
                                                                                                                                                                  I am alone. Many people who stutter grow up feeling alone and isolated. At this point in your life, you may be the only person you know with a noticeable (overt) stutter. You may also be hiding your (covert) stuttering reasonably well from other people. But trying to keep your stuttering a secret from the world may be controlling every aspect of your life. Your friends, teachers, or parents may not feel comfortable talking about stuttering and you may not either. It may feel like stuttering is shameful and should be kept a secret. But you are not alone. Most experts agree that close to one percent of the world’s population stutter. This means that approximately 3 million people in the United States stutter and about 67 million people in the world stutter.
                                                                                                                                                                  I stutter because I am a nervous person. While anxiety is not the cause of stuttering, anxiety may make us stutter more severely at times, such as during stressful situations like talking on the phone or speaking in front of a crowd. A frustrating reality about stuttering is that when we want to stutter less, we often end up stuttering more. And when we no longer fear our stuttering, we often end up stuttering less.
                                                                                                                                                              Stuttering is my fault. While we may not know the exact cause of stuttering, we are certain of two things: stuttering is not your fault, and stuttering is not your parents’ fault. Stuttering is a biological and neurological condition. As such, stuttering is not contagious like the common cold and is not the result of bad parenting, a stressful childhood or a traumatic event. No one chooses to stutter and no one is to blame.
                                                                                                                                                                  I am just not trying hard enough. Just as stuttering is variable, speaking strategies and tools we use to manage stuttering are also variable. Some days, no matter how hard we try, speech tools just don’t work very well. In fact, sometimes it is easier to stutter than to use speaking strategies.
                                                                                                                                                           Some people, including relatives or even some well intentioned, but misguided Speech-Language Pathologists, think that because you can control stuttering some of the time, you should be able to control your stuttering all of the time. This myth is both unreasonable and is absolutely not true. If someone asks or expects you to be “100 percent fluent,” feel free to reply by suggesting that they should never miss a free-throw in basketball ever again!
I need to hide my stuttering.Have you ever raised your hand in class or walked up to the counter at a fast food restaurant and found yourself changing what you wanted to say? Have you ever stayed home sick from school or refused to answer the phone so that you wouldn’t have to talk? If you have done any of these things, you are reacting in a normal way to a very difficult situation.
For example, one of the authors of this brochure was asked during his freshman year of college, “Where are you from?” Rather than risk stuttering on the w in Wilmington or on the d in Delaware, the author replied, “I forget.” At the time, it felt like anything was preferable to stuttering. But the reality is that the shame of losing your self-respect is far worse than the shame of stuttering. Saying what you want to say, when you want to say it is the most important thing. Stuttering is always allowed.
I must speak without stuttering. Some people who stutter might feel that it is their obligation to their parents, family, friends or even strangers to speak without stuttering.  The root of this belief is that we (people who stutter) are broken and believe we are a burden to others.  And the reality is that this belief is flawed. As people who stutter, we have a voice, and our voice deserves to be heard. While we may have a social obligation to communicate as effectively as we can, our listeners also have a social obligation to honor our right to freedom of speech.
I shouldn’t talk about stuttering. Feeling shame about stuttering is normal. But talking about stuttering with the right people makes things better, not worse. You may be surprised by how many people will want to listen and will want to help. Start by talking with someone you trust such as a parent, sibling, teacher at school or friend. You can meet other people who stutter by contacting support groups like FRIENDS and the National Stuttering Association (see the resources section). You can also ask your speech pathologist to schedule some group therapy sessions so you can work with others who stutter.
                                                                                                                                                              Stuttering will hold me back in life. People who stutter are as smart and capable as anyone else. History is filled with exceptionally smart, talented and successful people who stutter, including: Winston Churchill (the Prime Minister of England during World War II) Albert Einstein (a Nobel Prize winner in physics), Charles Darwin (a scientist who documented the theory of natural selection and evolution), Marilyn Monroe (a popular actress and model), Bob Love (legendary star of the Chicago Bulls), Alan Rabinowitz (a famous zoologist and animal rights activist) and V.P. Joseph Biden.
Stuttering is uncool and stutterers can’t be successful. Many cool people stutter including Bill Walton (an NBA all star and hall of famer and NBC Sports commentator), James Earl Jones (a professional actor), John Melendez (announcer for the Tonight Show), Darren Sproles (a running back and return specialist for the San Diego Chargers), John Stossel (a world renowned television reporter), Carly Simon (winner of an Oscar and Grammy award) and many more.
There are also many cool people who stutter that are still being discovered. Taro Alexander is the founder and artistic director of the Our Time Theatre Company and Camp Our Time, an artistic home for people who stutter. Taro is an actor who has been in STOMP and Law and Order. Eric Jackson is a guitar player in three New York City bands, founder of a self-help group for people who stutter in Brooklyn, co-host of the StutterTalk podcast and is studying to be a speech pathologist. And Caryn Herring has been featured on MTV’s True Life series talking about stuttering and is studying to become a speech pathologist.
 FRIENDS or the NSA for help finding an SLP near you.                                                                        Adapted from material originally developed by the stuttering foundation of amrica.

Bruce Willis Stuttering Story

*Bruce Willis starred in the 1989 movie Look Who's Talking as the voice of baby "Mikey."

While the world knows Bruce Willis as an A-list actor, few know that he struggled with stuttering throughout his first 20 years.

Walter Bruce Willis was born in 1955 in West Germany to his German mother, Marlene, and his American GI father, David Willis. The family settled in David's hometown of Penns Grove, New Jersey in 1957, and the couple has three other children.

After Willis came onto the radar screen in 1985 with his role as David Addison in the hot TV show Moonlighting, the actor would occasionally discuss his past struggles with stuttering in both print and television interviews.

In the 1997 book, Bruce Willis: The Unauthorized Biography, by British author John Parker, Willis is quoted as saying, "I could hardly talk. It took me three minutes to complete a sentence. It was crushing for anyone who wanted to express themselves, who wanted to be heard and couldn't. It was frightening. Yet, when I became another character, in a play, I lost the stutter. It was phenomenal."

Parker also writes that Willis had a definite formula to conquer his stuttering by implementing a series of confidence building exercises encouraged by a school speech therapist.

According to a 2001 biography, Bruce Willis: Overcoming Adversity, by Sandy Asirvatham, Willis admitted that at times he was reluctant to discuss his childhood in probing interviews because it was too painful and a large part of the pain was due to his stuttering.

In high school, Willis became the class cut-up, which eventually lead to getting involved in drama. Becoming the class joker was his way of trying to fit in. In fact, Anthony Rastelli, a high school teacher vividly remembers Willis' struggles and first attempts to speak before an audience. Rastelli is quoted in Parker's book as saying, 'At an age when most boys were finding their feet, Willis had a hard time. The stammer was a problem and in the end he began to compensate for it by his antics.

He had to establish himself among the pack, and, unable to do so with fluent speech, he did it another way ' making himself stand out in the crowd by becoming the joker, the mini-tearaway. What he was doing was saying "Yes, I stutter ' but doesn't mean I'm not good as the rest of you, better even.' I nearly died for him when he went on stage to make a speech. The kids were all laughing but somehow, he stuck it out and finished his piece, which was fairly typical of his spirit. And eventually, of course, he discovered that in front of an audience, he could overcome his disability."

Willis achieved the image that he strived for by first cutting-up in class and then becoming one of his high school's drama stars. Willis later told an interviewer, "A big part of my sense of humor came out of my stuttering, in trying to overcome that and have some dignity. I said, Yes, I stutter, but I can make you laugh."

However, Willis left high school with no definite decision to become an actor. As a stuttering youth with poor grades and a family that could not fund a college education, Willis hung around town and saved his money. After a couple of years, Willis enrolled at Montclair State College in New Jersey which had a noted drama program. It was there that drama professor, Jerry Rockwood, was impressed by Willis and encouraged him to see a speech therapist - making the combination of acting and speech therapy the undergrad's ticket to both fluency and future success.

Willis' spectacular acting career exploded from Moonlighting to Hollywood's A-list, and to box office smashes - The Sixth Sense, Armageddon, Bonfire of the Vanities and the Die Hard franchise of movies. Willis ranks as the 7th highest-grossing actor in terms of leading roles.

Willis' struggle with stuttering is inspirational. Unfortunately, it is rarely mentioned in interviews. However, by identifying himself as a person who stutters, Willis has an opportunity to put a human face on the daily struggle stuttering often presents.                                                                                                                  Adapted from material originally developed by the stuttering foundation of america.

Active Listening

Do you remember how your whole body strained to listen to your exam or interview results on a poor phone line? Or your boss telling you about that much deserved increment? Or the last boarding call announcement
for your flight? When we are highly interested in the information, our body and mind adopts an attitude, which is called active listening. This attitude can be learned and consciously applied, whenever you want to convey that you are listening and interested. Since listening is almost 90% of communication, you should be using this approach almost all the time! Here is how you practice it:                                                              1. Face the speaker, maintain eye contact; lean towards him (if appropriate).                                                                                                                                                                                                                    2. Focus on the whole message and its meaning.                                                                                          3. Repeat the words mentally as you hear them (it will help in recalling it later).                                               4. Take your mind OFF every  other distraction (cell-phone, surroundings, what you want to do next etc.)                                                                                                                                                                      5. Do not interrupt or make counter-arguments, even in thoughts. Just listen, as if your life depended on it.                                                                                                                                                                      6. If you think you are getting bored- keep those thoughts under check and consciously GET INTERESTED in what is being said.                                                                                                                                   7. Give a nod, or say, “Yes” “Okay” etc. to let the speaker know that you are listening and understanding.                                                                                                                                                                         8. Use other ways to acknowledge: ask intelligent questions; recap or rephrase or summarize what you just heard at appropriate intervals.                                                                                                                      9. Seek clarifications if needed. Active listening requires a deep level of awareness, ability to pick up one soft word against a noisy background. Also the ability to switch yourself into active listening mode at will. This comes with constant practice and observation. Recall the last time when you were trying to make sense to a
bored clerk or an indifferent colleague. They can teach you all the things, which YOU should NOT be
doing. Here is an interactive exercise for a group: Divide in pairs and let everyone tell each other certain basic facts about themselves: name, occupation, zodiac sign, one hobby, education etc. After ten minutes,
in a plenary session, let everyone introduce their partners one by one. Let the partner correct wherever needed and keep a simple score for comparison. In the next round, they can share more complex details like birth place, graduation subjects and marks and work experience. Recalling these details later, will require active listening skills.                                                                                                                                Written By Sachin Srivastava

Pausing Technique In Detail

Pausing Communication is a complex skill. Intellectual and physical, both components of speech require
coordination and effort. So, obviously you perform better when you give yourself sufficient time for
this effort through frequent pauses. Many of us labor under this false notion that communication means talking
non-stop! We think that a silence in a conversation must be an uncomfortable moment for both parties and will be considered a weakness on the part of the speaker. PWS often feel under pressure to prove themselves by talking continuously! Truth is just the other way around. Silence is an essential and natural part of good communication. People who talk non-stop are considered rude and poor conversation partners.Pause should be practiced consciously as meaningful breaks in the flow where:                                                                                                                                                                                                    1. a clause ends, signified by comma, colon etc.                                                                                            2. a sentence ends, indicated by a full stop.                                                                                                   3. anew concept or thought is being introduced,often indicated by a hyphen, dash or a new paragraph etc.                                                                                                                                                                      4. a word expressing emotions (exclamation mark!) or question (?).                                                                                                                                                                                                                                5. Ellipses (…) indicating unsaid thoughts.                                                                                                     6.Brackets [ ] or Parentheses ( ) indicating additional information.                                                                                                                                                7. you wish to give a few moments for the information to sink in.                                                                   8. you expect a response (verbal or non-verbal)from your audience. Listening attentively to your partner is equal important. Many PWS are so caught up in formulating their response that they hardly listen to their partner, leading to confusion and communication failure. The other person gets the impression that you are just not interested in what he or she has to share. Pausing should be unhurried, relaxed and can be used for taking deep breath,formulating our thoughts and reviewing audience response, especially during a formal presentation. Such conscious meaningful pauses help a pws by stopping his speech mechanism completely;
otherwise it tends to gather momentum and become uncontrollable after a couple of sentences,leading to moments of stuttering or a block eventually.
                                                                                                                                                                   To practice pausing, 1. Begin with reading a newspaper or book, with full attention to punctuation as discussed above.                                                                                                                                         2. Stop completely and take a deep breath at every punctuation (comma, colon, semi-colon, full stop, hyphen etc.) - and then proceed further.                                                                                                        3. After regular practice for 2-4 weeks, practice conversation with a friend in a similar fashion: stop and breathe in gently wherever you think a punctuation mark should be, if you were writing it down. During the unhurried pause, maintain the eye contact, smile if appropriate, be aware of the time pressure but do not react to it.                                                                                                                                                  4. Still later, practice it with a larger group and under different circumstances. While speaking in a formal setting, resist the time pressure. If you have been given only three minutes to present a long report- set up your priorities,leave out all the un- (or not so) important details and present only the most salient information in a relaxed way, interspersed with meaningful pauses. You may preface your presentation with something like this: Since I have just three minutes, I will share the most relevant information with you. To ensure understanding though, you may give hand out sat the end.                                                                           The most important thing to remember is: during a pause your speech mechanism should really come to a stop and you should be completely relaxed. Your pause should not be like an idling engine on a red light. Here is a group exercise to develop power to resist time pressure, while speaking: Sit down with some
pea-nuts in the center, with members of your self help group. You have to ask a question from the
person sitting next to you (what is the color of your shirt? What is the day today? Are you not Rahul? Etc). That member must answer AFTER eating one pea-nut completely and then carry on asking the question from the next person and soon. Whoever forgets to eat the pea-nut before answering is out. Whoever lasts till the end could be titled 'King or Queen of Pausing'. This can be a fun game both for adults and children. (From 'Fifty Activities for the Children who stutter', by Dr Peter Reitzes.)                                                     Written By Sachin Srivastava

Prolongation Technique In Detail

Gentle onset and prolongation means that we pay close attention to the way we begin a word or a sentence. PWS often tense up, tighten their lips and jaw and start in a jerky uncontrolled fashion. With some practice and conscious attention, it is possible to start a sound gently. And then, prolong the sound. To beginner it may seem like speaking with a foreign accent. It involves prolonging the vowels, especially the initial sounds. It helps us to slow our speech down and be comfortable with the act of speaking itself.                                                                                                                                                          1. To begin the practice, read a newspaper orbook with prolongation of vowels in every second word or more: As wee go too Kaaanpooor toooomorrow (I will go to Kanpurtomorrow).                                                                                                                                                                                                            2. Then, practice it with a friend in general  discussion. To understand what does prolongation mean, you may have to talk to some PWS already practicing it or watch a video of the technique. The latter is available on web.                                                                                                                                                         3. You begin with non-feared words and situations and VERY gradually move to fear words and situations over a period of some months (same as above for bouncing). For example you may talk like this to your pet dog and then gradually to your friends and family members for increasing durations. You may slide back once in a while, which is okay. But regular and motivated practice is very much needed to turn this technique into a useful skill,you can rely on.                                                                                                                         4. Gentle onsets may even mean, to soft en the hard consonants at times: Khum on- leeet us plaaay (Come on- let us play). Similarly, sounds consisting of double consonants may have to be separated in the process of prolongation:Perroompt (Prompt); Currocin (Crocin), Burrave(Brave).                                                                                                                                                                                                                           5. Initially speaking like this might seem very strange to us but if we observe, many nationalities speak English (and other languages) in significantly different ways and are understood well enough: Pay attention to Russian speaking in English, for example. Your colleagues will get used to it quiet soon. It definitely sounds no more stranger than your old way of stammering! Common Mistake: Many people short circuit the whole
process- by starting to bounce on difficult words, straight away in difficult situations like workplace, hoping to master the process in 2 day and finish the whole cycle in one week! Obvious result is- what starts as a bounce become uncontrolled stammering or block, soon; they lose all hope of mastering it ever and give it up Sometime, they get totally sold on a chance comment from a colleague and make a U-turn:yaar, your old way of talking was so much better-what is this new thing you have learned? sounds weird!                                    Written By Sachin Srivastava

Bouncing Technique In Detail

We have noticed that sometime, under stress, our mouth just runs away with words and we feel
helpless, as if we have absolutely no control over our sound box (throat & mouth). Bouncing is a
technique which gives us back the control over our speech mechanism and related emotions. It also teaches us to stutter in a relaxed way- as very young children do. This is the purpose of the self-therapy here: to teach us to stammer as a four ye r old child does – no struggle, no secondary behavior, no shame, no fear. That effortless stammering is less tiring to us and less distracting to the listener.Lastly, it is a nice way of letting
people know that we stammer and getting used to their reactions.                                                               Here are the main rules: 1. Start with easy, simple words. Bounce on difficult words only after 2-3 months of regular practice with easy words. By difficult words we mean sounds which pose problems regularly-for example for some of us, it could be K (as inKanpur); for others it could be B (Bimal), P (Peepul) etc. Do not start with these difficult words. Speak them as you have been doing all this time. Start bouncing on easy simple words.                                                                                                                                                  2. Practice alone fora few days; When comfortable, do it with a friend or in the self help group or on phone with friends or strangers and after many months, in the work-place or in a bus or train etc. You may have tor eorganize this protocol depending on what situation you find least to most stressful where speaking in concerned. Start a new exploration or technique in that particular order: easy to difficult situations.                                                                                                                                                                                    3. Read a story book or news paper and bounce on every second or third word in ever sentence. Finance m-m-m-minister has d-d-d-decided to l-l-l-lower the interest r-r-rates...                                                                                                                                                                                                                        4. You just repeat the first sound (syllable) slowly.SLOWLY is the key principle here .                                                                                                                                                                   5. Avoid bouncing rapidly, which happens sometimes during uncontrolled stammering: Finance mmmminister hasddddecided to llllowerthe interest rrrates.. This is bad bouncing. This can be avoided by stopping completely and being totally relaxed between two bounces. If this happens, do not get discouraged. Start all over again with easy word sand with less stressful situations.                                                                         6. Vary the number of bounces.Start from 6 more bounces and then gradually reduce it to2-3. Then, again increase it to 5-6 or even more. The idea is to get totally comfortable withthis technique and develop good control.                                                                                                                                                     7. Keeping relaxed while bouncing in a controlled way is important. When you achieve this target,only then increase the level of difficulty by choosing longer / difficult word in a more challenging situation as mentioned above. If you have difficulties, go back to the lower level and practice for few days before taking up the challenge once again.                                                                                                                                 8. Finally after some months’ practice, you should be able to say a word with just one small relaxed unnoticeable bounce: Finance m-minister has d-decided to lower the interest r-rates... If you watch TV carefully, you will notice many speakers, anchors using this little (sometime even bigger) bounce frequently.                                                                                                                                                 9. While learning to bounce, pay close attention to your emotions. Bounce as a child does. No fear, no struggle and with total acceptance. Give me a ticket for Ha- Ha- Herbertpur.                                                                                                                                                                                                                10. Gradually,try to bounce on a difficult word in spontaneous conversation on phone or in person. Remember: failing to bounce on a word in a given situation is only a temporary setback. It does not mean that this technique  is not for you. Whenever you fail to bounce properly on a word go back couple of step sand start again. Bounce on that very word alone, then with a friend and then wit strangers. You have stammered for many years and therefore you must give some months to yourself while  trying out a new way of stammering. Also, do not get influenced by unthinking feedback from friends or relatives. Since they know nothing of your stammering and speech therapy, they may say that your new way talking seems unnatural etc. Remember, you will not be bouncing like forever. As your fluency and comfort level improves, need to bounce will reduce and manner of your bouncing will become unnoticeable.                                                                                                                                                                                                                  11. What decides your success is (a) following plan (easy to difficult words, easy to difficult situations) (b) consistent practice over a long period (at least six months) and (c) keeping your moral high over this long period.                                                                                                                                               Written By Sachin Srivastava

Face Your Fears

By Sol Adler  

My youth, as is the case with so many stutterers, was filled with alternate hope and despair as I hungered for some relief from my stuttering. This of course is not unique; most stutterers have had similar feelings. But have you ever asked yourself what it is that really bothers you, what it is that causes despair? Is it your stuttering or is it your fear of people’s reactions to your stuttering? Isn’t it the latter? Most stutterers have too much anxiety about what they think people might say or might do as a result of the stuttering. These anxieties can be lessened.

I remember well these feelings of worry, anxiety, and despair. If you can learn to dissipate some of these terrible feelings—you will be able to help yourself as many other stutterers have done.

There is one effective method you can utilize to achieve this goal. Face your fears! This advice is easy to give and admittedly difficult for many of you to take; however, it is advice that has helped many stutterers and it can help you.

Learn to face your fears of stuttering in different speech situations. My involvement in such “situational-work” during my early career created peace of mind for me. It was a slow process; I didn’t achieve such freedom all in one day or week or month; and it was hard work. But I did it, and others have done it, and so can you.

Somehow you must learn to desensitize yourself to the reactions of others and refuse to let people’s actual or imagined responses to your stuttering continue to affect your mental health or your peace of mind.

This is easier said than done but it can be accomplished. I found that by facing my fears gradually I was able to achieve such a goal, and I have known other stutterers who have “thrown” themselves into similar confrontations. Use whatever pace that best suits you, but get involved, one way or another, in these confrontations with your “speech fears.” There will be times when you will be unable to face the fears inherent in different situations, but persevere. Don’t give up! Continue facing your fears as often as you can. Besides the peace of mind that develops, you will also become more fluent in your speech. You will find yourself manifesting lesser amounts of stuttering and that stuttering will never be as severe as it was previous to your confrontation.

You will find that as you grow older you will develop more ability to do these things. With growing maturity we can generally face our fears more frequently and more consistently. But how long do you want to wait?

List all the speech situations in which you fear stuttering. These are pretty standard situations; for example, most stutterers fear using the telephone. They experience much distress when they are called upon to answer the telephone while it rings incessantly, or conversely, when they must place a necessary call. I remember well how often I “played-deaf” when the telephone would ring. Sometimes, unfortunately, I might be standing and more than a few feet from that ringing telephone, and my protestations regarding “answer what telephone?” would be of no avail.                                                                                                                  Face this fear by making many telephone calls each day to different persons—people whose names are unknown to you. Practice stuttering while you speak to them. Stutter in different ways. For example, I once had a patient make such a call and the party on the other end turned out to be a preacher. The patient had been told he must ask for J-J-J-J but to never complete the name. The preacher was an extraordinarily kind person and evidently with some time to spare. He continually urged the patient to “take it easy” and assured him that he wouldn’t hang up. For two or three minutes the patient continued repeating the initial “J” until, in sheer desperation, the preacher said, “Son, there is no “J” here. I’m sorry but I have to go,” and with that he hung up.

What do stutterers learn from this and similar experiences? Not to be as afraid of answering the telephone since the worst possible thing that could happen to him would be for the party to hang up on him, or to say something derogatory to him. In either case, his world doesn’t end. By such experiences you will find yourself getting toughened caring less about how people might respond to you and, finally, you will be able to use the phone with lesser amounts of fear, anxiety, and stuttering.

Another classic situation most stutterers fear is asking questions of strangers. I suspect that this bothers you too. What I did, and have my patients do, is to stop people who are walking somewhere, or are in stores, and ask them questions concerning the time, directions, the price of some object, etc. All student clinicians who have trained under my supervision have been asked to do first whatever they ask the patient to accomplish. Thus they too had to first ask such questions of strangers. But since they were not stutterers, they had to feign stuttering and they were required to do it very convincingly.

These normal speakers discovered, as you well known, that much anxiety is experienced when asked to perform as indicated. But anxiety becomes reduced and dissipated if you engage in these kinds of situational experiences rapidly, one after another, almost without pause. For example: ask ten or fifteen people about their views regarding the cause of stuttering. You will find that after the eighth or ninth person has responded you will no longer possess all the fears you did when you initiated this exercise. Also, as a bonus, you might be surprised to find yourself actually listening to and arguing with your respondents and actually enjoying the exercise.

To argue about and/or to discuss effectively with anyone the causes or nature of stuttering means that you have to have some relevant information about stuttering. Do you know what this speech disorder is all about? If not, you should. You should learn as much about it as is possible. If your library does not contain sufficient information, write to the publisher of this book for additional information. No longer tolerate the false information from your parents, friends, teachers or others who are interested in you, and want to help, but who are probably very ignorant about stuttering. Educate them! But educate yourself first!

I discovered also that by talking to other stutterers I received indirectly the benefits of their therapeutic experiences. Find other stutterers! It may surprise you to find out how many fellow stutterers are available. Form groups! In this way you can help each other. It will be so much easier for you when you can find someone in whom you can confide and who understands your problem. Work up your own situational assignments. Alternate as clinician and patient with the proviso that the “clinician” must first do whatever he asks the “patient” to do. Watch people closely! See how they react to your stuttering.                                                                                                                                                                                                       Do you see facial grimaces or indications of shock or surprise on their faces? Occasionally you may but often you may not. You will find that when you both become objective enough to observe these people carefully, and to compare notes regarding their responses, you may even begin to enjoy the exercise. Your group should also try to obtain the services of a competent and sympathetic professional person who can guide you in discussions regarding those factors involving personality development. If not, discuss them yourselves. This kind of introspection—or self-analysis—helped me a great deal. It made me look at myself to see what made me tick. I began to realize that much of the behavior I disliked in myself was motivated by my fear of stuttering.

In summary I have suggested two matters of great importance to you regarding your stuttering: (1) Learn all about stuttering; read everything you can regarding this disorder; there is much literature available. (2) Face your fears as often and as consistently as you can. Do not give up if and when you backtrack; try to meet “head-on” these feared situations. When you can do so with some degree of consistency, you may find a new life awaiting you.

 Adapted from material originally developed by the stuttering foundation of america.