After YEARS of denial and self-help, finally started with speech therapy today
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After YEARS of denial and self-help, finally started with speech therapy today Apologies in advance if this is a long post but got a fair bit to let off my chest. I'm 26. I've been stuttering for as long as I can remember. During uni I managed to somehow get it together and presented my bachelor's thesis, seminars, and reports to entire classes full of people, with little to no issues. So much that I even got top grades in all my presentations. Neither did I feel a block and nor did anyone seem to notice if I had a minor hitch. Even presented my work to a panel of judges at international competitions, without any problems. Maybe because of deterioration in self-esteem and with increasing insecurities, my stutter has gotten to a big downhill spiral over the course of the last year and a half. At one point it got so bad that I couldn't speak two words consecutively in a flow. I was constantly being asked to write down what I wanted to say. It was really gut wrenching, I have no words. Today I had to go to an ENT doctor and I could barely describe my problems/symptoms. The problem is I still don't stutter talking to friends or family, or when I'm in a stress-free environment. But during interviews and presentations I've been becoming an absolute train wreck for the past few months. Been trying self-help books on and off for about a year, but as I said, it didn't seem to work well. Truthfully, I lacked discipline and was hard to really grasp the techniques without professional demonstration. Finally decided to throw away my shame and registered for sessions with a speech therapist. The first day went smooth. I can feel some minor improvements already. Hope it all goes well. I can keep you guys posted as the therapy continues if you'd like.