commentr/StutterDecember 12, 2017

Content

Ex stutterer here with a word of advice. A 100 % stutter free life is possible but it takes a fuckton of willpower, dedication and time.. there's no magical cure it all but please don't accept your stutter for what it is and seek professional help. And I'm not talking about going to the nearest speech therapist who's going to tell you all about how you should just accept the way your body works or has you rolling on the floor like in The King's Speech. You need a therapist who has knowledge of the midriff and how it works in correlation with speech. I stuttered from my early teen years until I was around 23 years old. I graduated school, got a job working with some nasty colleagues and 2 months later I got fired. Got a new job but because i couldn't say what I wanted to say and my colleagues looked at me like I had a mental illness things went from bad to worse so I got fired again, and again and again. After being fired five times in a year I flipped that switch and decided this wasn't the way I wanted to be. Hiding your true self behind an insurmountable wall of shame and fear is unfortunately a bad habit most stutterers have. I should know because I used to do it all the time. And it sucks because apparently it is genetic and runs in the family. Anyways, after I flipped that switch i ended up at the Del Ferro Institute in Amsterdam who are renowned for having developed a speech therapy that involves training your midriff because that's where the problem of every stutter lies : a ’defective’ midriff. I took the 10 day course. 2 months later plus a lot of practising their technique both mentally and physically at home and at work i was completely 'cured' so to speak. I felt reborn and free as a bird. The same bird got hit by an imaginary car (read:stress) 4 years later which caused some form of weird stuttering to come back but all it took was one free aftercare day,a couple of days of mental training and 15 minute excercises in the morning and evening to get back on my feet. That one day was back in August this year and since then I've never felt more alive and confident. I even started my own business in which communication is key which is something I would have never done otherwise. This word of advice turned out to be way longer than I wanted but my point is... Don't give in. You CAN do it as long as you have the willpower. You just need the right mentality and a helping hand to be pointed in the right direction. So open that door and go for it.

Themes

Emotional ExperienceAnticipation & AvoidanceCommunity & Support

Subthemes

Hope & MotivationHiding & ConcealmentPersonal Stories

Codes (3)

intimidation_authoritytelephone_videoperceived_judgment