Tell us the truth in advertisements for stammering/stuttering treatments

[speakingout2]

Well thanks, elf15th, no one has said that before!

[dattran16]

im young n sometime i stutter as well,  the trick i used is to rehearsal the sentences that u about the say in ur head so when u speak u can it'll more fluent 2nd try to relax abit reduce the excitement. when u relax u can speak pretty fluent

[slippocket1]

Hello, We worked on our three websites and changed or deleted a total

of 59 words and phrases that we thought were inappropriate. Thank you for

helping us realize our mistakes. Chris StutterFree. Inc.

[speakingout2]

I won't say thanks, slippocket1 , but I will say I'm glad you've done that. I'll check the sites out later. Many more stutterers are now aware of the fact that there is no universal cure, but that things can be done to improve one's speech and, often more importantly, one's attitude to one's speech - by being more open, for example. So working with people, getting recommendations and earning respect is a better route to business success than broadcasting misleading claims to the world.

[speakingout2]

Magiclifestyle101 has blocked me from making any more comments on his video 'Does stuttering hold you back?'. The video, and his website, contain many misleading statements and entirely unsupported claims. So I thoroughly recommend that you look at this video and give Magic the full benefit of your experience.

[christest15]

thank you for that. stutterers are so vulverable to scams. Nice to see someone telling it like it is.

[speakingout2]

Thank you, christest15. Do you stammer and, if so, how are you getting on with life?

[christest15]

@speakingout2 Yes I am a stutterer. I am 47 years old and doing fine. Thanks for asking. Kind of used to it by now lol.

[bisonjump]

Are you familiar with cancellations, pull outs, and prepatory sets? I'm interested in seeing these techniques used.

[speakingout2]

Yes, bisonjump, I am familiar with all these techniques and use them from time to time - with varying success! I've not done a video showing a lot of different techniques in use, because I'm more about campaigning for change. Try searching for The Suttering Homepage; I'm pretty sure there will be links to articles about techniques. Good luck.

[porFRASA1]

hi my name is abby and i have a stammer. i find that stammering is a real confidence killer. ive tried everything nothing works immediately but over time i have improved my stammer. if you lose focus and forget about yuor stammer than you are more likely to get stuck. people like your parents or your friends always tell me how i need to use my have free help! reply if you agree please i also think therapy should be free we have the freedom of speech. reply if you agree please!

[Jeorney]

I was wondering if - or why - stammerers tend to attract more discrimination, when compared to other disabilities?

I've found it from all members of my family, including some friends & relations. Often it results in emotional abuse in some form or another.

[speakingout2]

I don't actually know, Jeorney, but I suspect we do. People still tend to think that we stammer because of some weakness in our characters, we tend to hide our stammers as if we are are ashamed of them, and awareness of the condition is low because there is virtually no one who stammers who has a high profile. Yet, in the UK, there are access ramps everywhere and free wheelchairs for the mobility disabled, free hearing aids for the deaf and free glasses for many who are losing their eyesight.

[Jeorney]

These days, I find the discrimination aspect more pernicious than the actual stammer. If I dare confront them about it, some find it hard to give reasoned reply. Others suddenly start to jump through hoops championing other disability causes. Like a shield to hide behind, and to justify their behaviour.

[speakingout2]

I don't disagree with that! I've accepted that I stammer and, although there will be times when I'm much more or much less fluent, I will never be able to 'cure' it - and so I have got on with making the most of life. Is it the same with you? Thinking this way puts me in a position where I can, and do, challenge any prejudice. This is at least partly driven by having been fired and dammned near lost my job several times simply because I stammer.

[Jeorney]

I think I have reached the point where communication is more important than how I speak. The old fears that dominated my inner world is far less. What is difficult, is dealing with discrimination in the home, or elsewhere, and the insecurity that comes from that. To live life to the full you need to have good emotions to carry you through. Like you, I still confront it but sometimes it like confronting a wall of denial and accusation.

[speakingout2]

Then maybe you and I are similar. I have always tried not to allow my stammer to occupy the centre of my life and, although there is a thin line between determination and obstinacy, I hope I have succeeded. This is not an advertisement for the British Stammering Association, which I joined a few years ago, but I can tell you that being a member allows you to speak with a sort-of corporate authority! Sometimes, when I see people on behalf of the BSA, they are disappointed if I don't stammer.

[Jeorney]

It sounds like you have succeeded. Was the struggle to keep your job the turning point for you? The others at BSA are disappointed because you must stammer to maintain your membership. Did you miss the S in BSA?

[speakingout2]

I nearly took a job as a writer in an ad agency, but turned it down because I realised I was in danger of hiding myself away. So I went into marketing management - and got used to working with a stammer. The big point came when I was fired for stammering, when I was 31, and a Director of a marketing agency. One of their clients, BP, asked me round and suggested I should open my own company and pitch for their business. Which I did, and won. BP said they didn't give a damn about my stammer.

[speakingout2]

There are people in the BSA who stammer a lot, and some who hardly stammer at all - and there are non-stammering parents of stammering children and non-stammering partners of stammerers. So you don't need to take an annual stammering test to maintain your membership! I'm still stammering away, and am fairly accepting of it, whilst stubbornly holding on to the idea that what I say is (hopefully) more important than how I say it. So I'm pretty sure that I will always be one of the Ss in BSA!

[Jeorney]

My stammer intensity varies widely. I once gave a presentation to upper management when my speech was not so good. I had to endure open laughter by quite a few of them. To cut long and torturous story short, I was forced to accept a Compromise Agreement. The real damage came after. Coupled with the problems at home, I mentioned above, my plans to be an electronics engineer collapsed. It's a career that's hard to resurrect.

[Jeorney]

One of your statements reminds me of a scene in Robert Graves 'I Claudius'. When he, as a stammerer, had to face a doubtful and hostile senate for the first time as Emporer.

Keep the S in BSA!

[speakingout2]

I won't ask here about the problems at home. Bad luck about the career change. It must be hard to avoid feeling bitter about it. What a waste. However, I know what you mean: I've had laughter on many occasions and I can clearly remember one presentation where I was blocking so badly that I was dribbling. Yet, last year I appeared before a Parliamentary Committee and my speech was amazingly fluent. Then I spoke somewhere similar and it was a real struggle. But I never saw Gary Moore live!

[Jeorney]

Most of it was probably nervous laughter, which can be infectious. Even so, I had a weird numb sensation of unreality and disconnection. It probably the mind protecting itself. Sometimes the you can have the easiest time during what should be the toughest speaking engagement. But as long as stammering is not seen as failure, we can stay strong. I never saw Gary Moore either. In my favouries there's a Band called Heart. The dark haired singer has a stammer. So we're in good company!

[TheDami1969]

I have a stammer and have had it for years but what I what to know is if anyone else who stutters/stammers feels like that have difficulty not only speaking but also with trying to retrieve the right words..meaning they cant think of the word to use right away.

[speakingout2]

Hi, Dami. I think that happens to many people who stammer. I know, in my own case, that I often have to put so much into trying to control my speech that thinking about what I'm saying suffers! Speech is a bit like a road, along which words and sentences need to travel. But our roads are weaker and not as wide as most people's so, when there is too much traffic, there are traffic jams.

[DTB180]

I was wondering if anyone would know why my stammer changes from time to time. it can be were i can't speak at all and other times i have to go ehhhhhhh before i speak. thank you for this video, very infromative

[Squishymeister]

There are lots of factors that could influence changes in stuttering. Generally the older you are the less variable it will be though.

-likely to stutter on same words when repeating a passage, indicates a learned behavior

-linguistic properties of words will effect stuttering (not to be confused with phonology)

-4 variable highly associated with stuttering (Brown 1230/40) = initial sound of the word (initial consonant), sentence position (near the beginning), word length (more than 5 sounds), .

[Squishymeister]

and grammatical class (more likely to stutter on content words for adults, more likely to stutter on function words for kids).

-word frequency (words you say less often are more likely to be stuttered on)

-predictability (when a word is less predictable, more likely to stutter on...so less information value words)

-linguistic stress (stressed words tend to be stuttered on more)

-communicative pressure (like talking to strangers, or giving a presentation) will increase stuttering

-

[Squishymeister]

-attention- reduced stuttering by doing something associated by physical activities like dance or piano

- suggestion- stuttering will reduce by power of suggestion, like hypnosis (but it won't last long)

- tension and anxiety- high levels will increase stuttering a lot

- cue-related condition- cues of past difficulties (situational, linguistic, etc) will make stuttering more likely

- more fluent when talking to babies or animals

-more fluent when adopting fake voice (acting or accent)

[sign543]

Thank you for the work you are doing! It's relevant, important and most certainly necessary!

[Squishymeister]

Thanks for putting this up! I'm currently a graduate student in speech-language pathology, and taking a fluency class/working with clients who stutter (doing youtube research to get better at fluency counts...) and it's GREAT to see some positive self advocacy! I would also encourage people to donate to stuttering research, as we really know so very very little about the etiology and other factors of stuttering at the moment.

Thanks again for sharing!

~Amber

[speakingout2]

Thanks, Amber! Are there any more like you out there?!

[Squishymeister]

well... unfortunately MOST speech pathologist receive very little training on how to work with people who stutter, and therefore many don't feel confident in doing so, or even worse do inappropriate therapies. I'm thankful that my program offers the course I'm taking, as well as the chance to work with clients who stutter. I'm not sure about speech paths in the UK though...as I'm in an American program. Planning on moving to the UK though, so I should look into it!

Keep fighting the good fight!

[mrblisterfist]

@Squishymeister Enjoyed your comments.

Good luck with your work.

~be well

[naizret]

I stumbled upon your video while I was rooting around YouTube looking for John Bercow MP after his election as speaker. Very interesting. I'm a journalist in Washington and had no idea that Google carries health/medical advertising without regard to claims or content. Given Google' self-congratulatory attitude about itself--especially its much-advertised 'social conscience'-- I thought I should have a look at the issue, with particular reference to stuttering/stammering. Many thanks!

[speakingout2]

Great to hear from you! Tried messaging but you have got friend lock on. This story is a continuing one and we have just reported five more Google ads and Google themselves have been cited in the adjudications as affiliate marketer - but they still don't change their policy or reply to our letters. And I know John Bercow too. Talk on Skype? Please let me know.

[faizan789]

its about genetics..i stutter only because my father stutters,its all about genetics in my case

[speakingout2]

Yes, faizan789, the root cause of stuttering is largely to do with genetics - and your father may have some blame for this, but he couldn't help it! Stuttering is a neurodevelopmental disorder. It emerges in childhood as a symptom that the brain's neural circuits for speech are not being wired normally. There is no evidence of a cure - but therapy, as close to onset as possible, has a very high success rate in young children. Fortuntately, neither of my two children stutter.

[ThinkGodDammitTNT]

Props to you for having the courage to put yourself in the open with a stammer. I know what its like.

[speakingout2]

Thanks, ThinkGodDammitTNT, but I don't feel I am being courageous, because I have always spoken out and always stammered. So doing a video is nothing too amazing. But I have been very frustrated by my stammer because it is a real bloody nuisance, like everyone else, I get a lot of prejudice, I didn't know why I was doing it and there was nothing I seemed to be able to do to make it much better. So when I found out that the root cause is a neurological condtion, I was strangely relieved!

[screwmanx]

i disagree with the speech therapy thing. when i was 7 i went to speech therapy, and it didn't help at all, just seemed to make it worse in some areas. guess it just comes down to the type of people they are.

[speakingout2]

Sorry to hear that, screwmanx. It's unlikely that you will recover completely if you first go to therapy at the age of 7, because, by that age, the neurological flaws in your brain will have become kind of hard-wired. Also, as you say, there are surprisngly few speech tharapists who specialise in stammering and even fewer who specialsie in stammering in very young children. But since last year's Bercow Review into children's speech therapy, a change has been promised...

[rayockenden]

same i went to speech therapy n it didnt work for me. but i reacently went on the mcGuire progamme which i felt help alot as it teaches u to control ur stammer n i know i prob wont work for everyone. but i think it might if u keep at it.

[popmusicno1fan]

at least it can help your stammer at least a bit though because ive been to speech therapy as well and they gave me all different techniques and stuff so that helps :)

[YearoftheKlown]

i was hanging with a few friends last night and we got pretty wasted. I tried to say something but ended up saying 'I w w w w w will.... holy shit did I just stutter?'

One guy said 'dude, you've always stuttered'

That scared the shit out of me.

So does anyone know if its possible you could stutter without actually knowing it?

[speakingout2]

Well, YearoftheKlown, maybe you only stutter when you get wasted - so maybe that's why you don't know you're doing it. But, seriously, one of the biggest problems for people who stutter is that it worries them. So, if you've been stuttering, and not noticed it and not been worried about it, you are a lot luckier than most.

[YearoftheKlown]

Thanks (sorry I'm 2 months late)

But when someone tells you about it you know about it from then on!

Anyway after realising what I had I found that thinking about what I wanted to say (the exact words) was extremely helpful. Oh and slowing down, rather than just blurting out a general idea of a sentence.

I have a new question:

Do people stutter when they read a written sentence, or is it just when they speak directly?

Like is it a short term concentration thing or trouble saying certain words?

[popmusicno1fan]

i used to be on a speech therapy course, with lots of other stammering children. i got techniques from the therapists, like using soft sounds before you speak, and speak more slowly. i sometimes find it hard to remember them though,

[DJPunch101]

i have problems with saying I and W so ill be like i-i-i-i -w-w-w well and i cant say eleven or acid i block em completley so its jus like a awkward silence but it aint so bad

try rapping trustt me its helped so much

u learn to pronuniciate properly and coz you have to rap fluently and in rhtyhm it brings back fluency

i aint like a company or a spammer

im an amateur rapper from the UK

so trust me jus lip sync some rap songs or have a go at rapping properly

check out my videos

peace

good luck

[speakingout2]

I've heard the same from others, DJP, that rapping is really helpful. One of the main reasons we stammer is that we don't have the ability to keep up a natural rhythm in our speech, so it keeps breaking down. Singing and rapping give our brains an outside rhythm to latch onto and that's why they can do fantastic things for our fluency.

[heeeybeth]

i have a trouble especially with a word begin with s, example if i wanna say sorry, i'll say it like "sssss-sorry". any suggestion?

[speakingout2]

I'm not a speech therapist, heeeybeth, so you should really ask this question of someone who is qualified. From my own experience, I've found that it helps to really relax and practise saying difficult sounds; but on the other hand, and this will probably sound contradictory, it also helps to try and forget about it!

[rajaryan1000]

@ To all stammerers..

i am a stammerer too . i found a new technique that may be useful.

Every stammerer is scared of talking on the phone... that is true.. i no exception.. recently i had a terrible phone interview so to overcome it at any cost i started calling different companies to ask for any job openings.. at first it was terrible but now i seem to have made a little progress. major thing is that if you stammer the other person have no idea who you are so you will not be embarrassed

[rajaryan1000]

@speakingout2...

i dont agree when you say once you are past 7-8 yrs you cannot stop stammering... I am from India and herein Bollywood a famous actor Hrithik Roshan had stammering too ... but he took some speech classes and now he is as fluent as any talk show host....

[speakingout2]

I never said you cannot stop stammering, rajaryan1000. What I said was 'Once past the age of about 7, only a few of us recover and only some of us find ways to speak more fluently'. So Hrithik Roshan has been fortunate - and maybe you will be too...

[ashtonwhiskey]

i have troubles with beginings of words for example L and M mostly Y i find it hard to say year.been stuttering since i was 4 i think if not earlier.But i have some advice,to people who stutter in the begining of words and you know your about to stutter say "ERM" it helps you get some air in and relaxes you thing inside youre brain.sorry iv forgotten what its call please forgive me.Or try doing some mouth and vocal exersizers like what singers and actors do before going on the stage

[speakingout2]

Speech therapists call that a 'filler' - when you put an extra word or sound in, before a difficult word, to help you bridge or bounce through! I'm sure that doing mouth and talking exercies is useful.

[rajaryan1000]

i completely disagree with you... i tried the same technique for a long time and it didnot help...if you are going to stammer on some syllable you will stammer... using "ERM" or "HMMM" as a buffer or cushion will not help

[ashtonwhiskey]

yer try getting some stammerers on soaps and stuff,and make people see that were nto so different were just special

[davidpn28]

i dont no wether u will no him or not but a bloke called garath gates is on t.v alot these days and he has a stammer, he started on pop idol a few years bak and he had to say his name to the judges and i remember watchin it and he couldnt say his name, and i have a stammer myself and i was with my mates at the time and none of them new i had a stammer and they just laughed at this poor lad on t.v and i felt so emmbarrased because of this! i dont think its a good idea but maybe im wrong i dont no

[Biochips1]

Thx so much for your effort to make this video. For a long time I've thought it's maybe my fault that I'm unable to cure my stutter. But your video helped me out a lot.

I think stuttering should get more famous. One way to achieve that is showing more stutterers in movies and on TV. But not for fun of course.

[speakingout2]

Thanks, Biochips1 - and I visited your shrine earlier! You are right: too many of us have come to believe that stuttering is our own fault, so we feel ashamed about, and so we hide our stuttering and ourselves. So, if we carry on thinking this way, it will be impossible for stuttering to become famous! Good luck.

[deathtotubez]

thats a good idea but people would end up making fun of it and the info wouldnt get through to people

[speakingout2]

Quite right, deathtotubez. There have been films and TV programmes with characters who stutter and I can't see how any of them have helped people to understand what it's really like. Mostly stuttering is 'used' to indicate that a character is weak, uncertain, dangerous or someone to be laughed at.

[taragolden]

thank for you the info.

[stefanboro]

I have to say that your own speech seems to be going through a good stage.

I tend to go through up and down stages throughout the year where I am either terrible with my stutter or not so bad.

I have had various methods suggested to me but so far what works best (at least for me) is just thinking about my individual process of stammering and just to try and brake the word down into individual syllables.

I have also found that reading a book aloud can help too.

[speakingout2]

Thanks, stefanboro and thanks for the advice too. I agree with you. But my speech was not too good on the day I did this video. I always find it difficult to keep talking for a long time, because it requires such concentration. I'm much better in conversations - and when I'm not speaking about something as serious as this!