commentr/StutterAugust 3, 2017

Content

I stuttered horribly all throughout my childhood and into high school. I did seem to just simply grow out of it as I entered adulthood. I casually saw a speech pathologist once a week or so for a year in 2nd or third grade but I don't recall it having any immediate effect or even what we really did. I tried every trick in the book to try and overcome blocks on the spot, and some were moderately successful but I wouldn't consider anything I tried a surefire "cure." Public speaking was mortifying. I could even read ahead and see exactly where I was gonna eat it, which of course always made things worse. Which brings up a good point - because I've never spent much time after the fact looking into it, I don't know if my childhood stutter was common or not. The blocks I would run into and the actual sounds that blocked me were very unpredictable (some sounds being more frequent triggers than others, but still inconsistent). It was almost as if it was a "Wow, okay. Looks like today G-sounds are going to be my block" sort of scenario. Singing instead of speaking (whenever that was somehow an option) worked well to avoid stuttering. Ditto for sometimes covertly rhythmically tapping my sides for a few seconds and timing my speech with the rhythm was a frequent go-to that had mixed results in the moment. Breathing played a large part; hard to explain I guess but sometimes a long exhalation seemed to just allow the word to come out if I spoke in the middle of a long breath instead of at the top of it. In the end I don't know what really cured it or when exactly I did leave it all behind. It does creep up unexpectedly every now again (I'm currently in my mid-30s), but very fleetingly and only in very specific scenarios (like when I'm extremely tired for some weird reason), but not enough that I ever expect or notice it. And it's seldom enough that it comes out as more of a tick or a "brainfart/short circuit" than a clinical stutter. I speak professionally every day, have been in a professional sales role since my early 20s, and am generally a very social and outgoing person. The memory of my stuttering is very real and uncomfortable for me to look back on, but I am glad and consider myself lucky that I was able to simply grow out of it if that's actually what happened.

Themes

Speech & StutteringCauses & Variability

Subthemes

Onset & Life-Stage ChangesSituational VariabilitySeverity & FluctuationEnergy & Biological Rhythms