Either way, do you find that people are more patient with you now than before? I know that’s worded badly, but hopefully you can sift through it to see what I mean.
I stuttered as a child (until age 9), and am beginning to once again, although it’s of a transient nature.
As a kid, it was very bad, but my very patient Dad helped me by using one of his drums and having me - speak - in - rhythm, and I was able that way to work my way out of it. It was hell, in school though. Not only did I speak English with a very heavy German accent, I stuttered as well.
So now it’s coming back a little, and, because I am the way I am (batshit) I find it hilarious when I get tangled up in a word. Yesterday I asked D if she’d rather have Spaghetti-ohs, or a Pimento Cheese sandwich, and when I finally got stopped, we both had a laugh, and I said "I give that one a 10’’!
As for me, I do find people are more patient and will wait for me, even though sometimes I do get frustrated with myself, I just stop and point at whatever it is I’m trying to say.
So when I saw Anderson Cooper’s program this afternoon, it brought back some not so fond memories and some tough times and I wanted to ask y’all your opinions.
As a young child I stuttered but at puberty it began to taper off and settled in to an occasional stammer but only on certain words and I never knew when it might happen. I would attempt to say a word but no sound would come out and I might make some mild choking noise as I struggled to pronounce the word. In order to get the word out, I would have to stop for a brief moment, take a quick breath and pronounce the word more slowly.
I remember while in the Air Force as an Air Traffic Controller, I went through a period when this would happen when I tried to say the word ‘Runway’. Now, imagine how many times a day we uttered that word.
As the years past, the stammer became less frequent and I began to learn how to control it by speaking more slowly and more distinctly. I’m not talking about drastically slowing down my rate of speech, just reducing my previous rate by about 10% or so and giving my mouth a chance to stay more in sync with my thoughts.
Oddly, stammering was never an issue during public speaking because I guess in my mind, I knew what I was going to say and had an agenda to follow. During a normal conversation when thoughts can be more instantaneous, the stammer might return and occasionally someone would make fun of and mimic me but I would ignore them and simply continue on with whatever I was saying but sometimes people can be cruel without consciously having that intent.
This caused me to notice speech patterns and capabilities in different people. Women in particular, have superior language skills over men. When I’m having a conversation with a fast talker either male or female, I’m tempted to match their rate of speech, especially when attempting to make a point but for me, it’s a fool’s game because the stammer will get me every time. My approach now is to speak even more slowly and sometimes it works in slowing down the pace on each side of the conversation but it always works in controlling my stammer.
I was teased for my speech growing up, but I don’t recall having a stutter, at least a really bad one. Back then, my main problem was that I sounded drunk, slurring and mispronouncing words. I still have this issue but it has probably improved over the years.
As I have gotten older, though, I have developed a stammer. Sometimes it’s not there and sometimes it is. It’s very noticeable to me and I hate it, but I’m not sure if it’s really apparent to others since adults don’t tease other people about their speech like kids do. That’s the only upside to teasing. Instant feedback.
As to the cause, I’m chalking it up to a side-effect of the medication I’m taking. I have read that it sometimes helps people with their stuttering but that it can also make it worse.
As a child I had a stutter, and a problem pronouncing anything involving the letters r or l, or th. (Three ended up sounding like free, truck sounded like twuck, etc.) In first grade the school and my mom had me put in speech therapy classes, which greatly improved my speaking skills. Ironically, this later on led to kids making fun of me, since I no longer spoke with a Southern accent and pronounced my words precisely.
Over the years my stutter has returned, and none of the skills I’ve learned has helped. I have a strong suspicion that whatever is causing me to have petit mal seizures and severe migraines is beginning to affect my speech.
The stutter has the unfortunate side effect of making me appear to be lying or nervous at job interviews, court appearances, and whenever I’m being questioned by anyone in authority. (Cops, firemen, doctors, etc.)
I stuttered very often as a child, and my mother and sister (not mother-sister) helped me by telling me to stop what I was saying, slow down, and think about it. Over time that helped me overcome the stutter and stammer.
I guess I was lucky, because I can’t remember anyone teasing me about it, ever.
I do get the stutter occasionally today, but it’s usually on one word in the conversation. the word isn’t constant, so I have no idea when it comes around. Sometimes I’ll catch it early and use a different word or slowly speak that word. it’s as if my mouth just forgets how to form it for a moment. Other times I do the Porky Pig stammer and substitution, though that’s very rare. And earlier this week, I couldn’t pronounce the word ‘locker’; I pantomimed the action of using one, and was finally able to coax it out.
I don’t know if it’s related, but I think I have a weak ‘s’ to ‘l’ sound transition. For instance, ‘that’s love’ comes out mashed and mushed together often, and it feels that unless I really concentrate the right side of my tongue from just below the tip to where it stops making contact with the roof of my mouth just drops.
I do, but only when I’m really wound up. Less than 1% of people I know probably realize it (somehow the sort of stress involved with work isn’t the right kind to induce it, fortunately), and those who do are patient while I struggle to get words out.
About a year ago my stress and social anxiety levels were off the charts and I began to stutter when I spoke Spanish. At first my English was fine, but I quickly went downhill and was rendered essentially mute over the course of about two weeks. It’s a weird ball of wax my therapist and I are still trying to figure out, though I’ve stopped stuttering.
All I know is that stuttering so much was so terrifying it felt physically painful. I’ve a new-found respect and compassion for anyone who has to deal with it.
Yes, I do. It was weird actually. For a while I actually FORGOT I stuttered. It was pretty amazing after I went so long not having to think about it. It is most severe when I get excited.