commentr/StutterMay 3, 2018

Content

Stuttering really needs to be approached holistically. For people who don't stutter when they are by themselves, the issue with stutter comes down to tension from anxiety in social situations and the feedback loops that come into play. The more you stutter in social situations, the more anxiety you will have for future situations, the more you are training the wrong neuro\-muscular patterns, the more your stutter will persist. What I have found helps me is reading out loud to help train the correct neural patterns, meditating and working out to reduce overall anxiety, and trying to be expressive when I speak instead of just mechanically emitting words \(right brain vs. left brain activation\). Meditation in particular help you move away from the negative and toxic neural patterns that can prevent you from moving forward. You should get to a point where you have zero emotional response to your stutter, and just treat it as something that happens. When you can do that, you can move forward with it as a purely mechanical issue that needs training, like getting better at playing the guitar, instead of a potentially painful emotional issue. And remembering the big picture perspective on communication \- it is by definition imperfect. Even people who don't stutter by the standard definition have trouble communicating. Trying to get away from the stigma of it being a bad thing goes a long way. Once you get past it \(and its up to you when you are past it\) keep going with improving your vocal skills by doing vocal warm up exercises that actors do. The human voice is an incredibly instrument that when finely tuned can bring you great power in your life. Good luck!!!

Themes

Causes & VariabilityCoping & AdvocacyEmotional ExperienceIdentity & Disability

Subthemes

Stress & Fight/FlightPropositionality & WeightMindset shiftMindfulness & BreathingAnxiety & Social JudgmentAuthenticity vs. Masking