Possibly root cause of my stutter I did not consider until seeing a speech pathologist
Content
Possibly root cause of my stutter I did not consider until seeing a speech pathologist Hi all, I've posted here before with my issues regarding stuttering. It usually occurs when I'm on the phone and what happens is my head tweaks out (like rapidly shakes) and I cannot say a word. I went to a speech consult where the speech pathologist demonstrated I can say the word in question if I breathe in deep, sound out each syllable, then say it all at once afterwards. I believed my speech issues tied into anxiety entirely, but what we realized is I can mouth breathe occasionally without noticing. This is due to me having bad allergies as a kid and by habit I will breathe through my mouth. This, along with the fact that I'm a fast talker, can overwhelm me and cause me to get the light headed feeling I get when I talk and feel stutters/speech blocks manifesting. When I panic or am anxious I'll switch unconsciously to mouth breathing. It will be difficult to catch myself mouth breathing, but it has helped me considerably on the phone to just know this fact. My speech issues aren't over, but at least being provided with a possible way to fix it or prevent it helps me sleep at night. Hopefully someone else here can find this useful. Notice your breathing when you are building up towards a speech block. Regulate you're breathing if prior to a phone call. It may help!