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Stuttering (resolved) Hi All, I used to stutter myself (really bad). Went to a speech therapist since I was young who told me I could never get rid of my stuttering. It had a huge impact on my life and I stopped speaking for the most part. My parents made sure that I didn’t have to speak much in school or give presentations (as it was no use anyway). I stopped speaking or telling stories to my friends and family as well. I also noticed that because I didn’t speak I was behind on forming sentences and holding conversation. Eventually I did an alternative therapy and my stuttering completely disappeared within 6 months. I do not credit the therapy fully but it played a huge part. This is 14 years ago and I speak and think as if ive never stuttered. No fear of stuttering again as I feel I understand the underlying cause. After this I started working in an alternative therapy many years later that was similar to what I know was helpful. I did it next to my job as a way to give back. Here I met a lot of people and this gave me more inside into the cause of this and what people are struggling with. I believe acceptance is very important, also a singing like way of speaking is super helpful as a temporary or in between solution, but at the end the most important factor ive noticed seems to be your childhood/past. Ive noticed that similar conditions always have a reason to be there and they want to protect you in some way. The only resource I found to have an accurate description of the cause, is German new medicine. [Motor Cortex Constellation (learninggnm.com)](https://learninggnm.com/constellations/documents/motor_cortex_constellation.html#Motor_Const_Vocal_Tics) For me, I've learned that stuttering was trying to protect me. Growing up in our house, it was not safe to speak, so unsafe that I couldn’t speak at some point. I grew up in a household with a narcissistic dynamic and developed multiple disorders alike. So if I find a way to feel as if it is safe to speak, I will have no need for stuttering. This may not be the exact reason for everyone obviously, but childhood might give you a clue. It is obvious to me that there is a solution, given the underlying cause, this is not a small ask of someone and not everyone is ready to do so at every moment. So I think it is helpful to accept it and in the meantime there are ways to support yourself while still stuttering. I strongly believe that it is very disrespectful to force someone to resolve their stuttering. It takes a lot of work and there is a time for everything. Thinks I noticed in group therapy for stuttering (3 years of groups): - I’ve noticed that most people are emotionally intelligent and extremely empathetic. - Most people who stuttered felt alone, like they are the only one. It was very helpful to talk to other people who stutter. There was a lot of humor involved as stuttering gets you into certain situations at times. - Not everyone is ready to get rid of stuttering. There is a time and place for everything, people who were not motivated did not really improve or just temporarily. - A lot of people make choices that would be different if they didn’t stutter. They partner they chose, the education, friends, job. Ive seen people change their jobs, partner etc after being able to speak again. Many of them seemed introverts, but turned out to be more extroverted. - A lot of tricks people use to disguise stuttering are the same. - Many have had speech therapy for a number of years and/or followed different kinds of alternative therapy (like Del Ferro, McGuire etc). - A lot of people (including myself) had insecurities in general about speaking to strangers or giving presentations etc. Many of them assigned the insecurity to stuttering, after they were able to speak again the insecurity remained. Stuttering can be a vicious cycle. When people stutter, a common response is to not want to stutter and use tricks or avoid it altogether. Like, using different words or synonyms, stuttering from the inside, and then later continuing with the sentence, avoiding social gatherings or presentations at school/work, not speaking at all. Not wanting to stutter, will make stuttering worse. This is why accepting it, will make a huge difference. Also, the tricks above cost a lot of thinking and mental space it is completely exhausting depending on the severity of course. Some things ive noticed is that some people ‘’grow over it’’ or it gets better as they get older. I believe it the underlying cause that is getting resolved within that person as they learn and grow in life. Unlearning these tricks is a process in itself, l give you a small example. - You have to call to arrange some sort of a party, you notice that during this conversation you use a synonym to avoid an upcoming stutter. You realize what happened after you hang up. You call them back, make up some reason why and use the word you were avoiding. - You normally avoid hanging out with friends or calling the dentist, you now chose to call them anyway. Please be gentle to yourself when you do this and take small steps. If you have questions, just ask. I wish someone told me this when I was younger. Good luck.