postr/StutterFebruary 27, 2021

Something that helped me

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Something that helped me Hello. I just found this sub last week and have been reading various stories from everyone. I don’t post much but I wanted to share something that has helped me with my stuttering, hopefully to help others. I’ve been stuttering since I was 6. Started out as a once a year thing that lasted for a week or two. When I turned 12 my stuttering was an everyday thing, and still is today. As I got older I’ve learned to control it better. At 29, I’m still learning and finding new ways to control it. Some of the ways I’ve tried to control it is by slowing down, focusing for a few seconds on what I want to say, taking deep breaths before I speak. My most recent way I’ve learned to control it was this week. I started doing a new job at my place of work that requires me to use the intercom several times over the shift to make announcements. I dreaded it. I hate stuttering and embarrassing myself. I absolutely dreaded it. Our intercom system has a “queue.” You type the number and say what you need to say and several seconds later the system will play what you said throughout the building. Luckily there’s a cancel button. I’ve used that countless times already. When I reach for the phone I’m always nervous I’m going to stutter and I usually do. It’s hard to stay calm when that fear takes over. But anyway, the way I’ve learned to manage it was by taking a deep breath, holding it, dial the intercom number, and when it’s time to speak I exhale slowly as I’m talking and it helps prevent me from stuttering. I was surprised it worked for me. When I stutter, and before a stutter, my throat tightens, i get stuck on the first word of a sentence, words that start with E’s, A’s, B’s, I get stuck on certain words mid sentence. The more I try to get the words out the worse it gets. I found that holding my breath I guess relaxes my throat and I’m able to get the words out so much better as I’m exhaling slowly while speaking. I know stutterers experiences stuttering differently and the triggers are different from person to person, but hopefully this will help somebody with managing their stutter. I’m 29 and just found it worked for me. I was so proud and happy it worked for me I wanted to share it to hopefully help somebody else

Themes

Anticipation & AvoidanceCauses & VariabilitySpeech & Stuttering

Subthemes

Anticipating StutteringFeared Words & NamesAvoidance & SubstitutionStress & Fight/FlightPhysical Tension