Any NT'ers who happen to stutter/stammer?

[Gill Baka Esq. LLC.]

Whadup brah's.

I'm just curious as to how many NT'ers have ever faced a period of stuttering maybe when they were kids that persisted into their adult lives.

 

[beh235]

I haven't. I just don't like people making fun of those that do. Not cool. There was a kid in my 5th grade class that stuttered and they made fun of him a lot. You have any experince with this Grimlock?

 

[Gill Baka Esq. LLC.]

well I don't stutter but the reason I'm asking this question is because i'm currently in graduate school to become an slp and one of my main focuses is on the assessment and intervention of children who stutter/stammer.

I'm just getting my feet wet in the area and I've found it to be one of the most interesting aspects of speech production and because there is no known cause nor absolutely perfect answer for it.

A lot of experts in the field find that it's the combination of different factors like genetics, enviornment, speech-motor planning, affective behavior, temperament....etc. the list goes on. And many of the experts are individuals who stutter themselves

I just wanted to open it up for discussion: 1. because many people have the wrong(usually negative) perception of people who stutter and 2. it's something that usually affects more boys than girls and since NT is a predominantly male oriented discussion board it would be a source to talk about it.

It's a very touchy subject for many people but I'd love to just ask those who happen to stutter how they feel about it and get some first-hand feedback.

I'd really like to know those who sought speech therapy for it and if it made a difference in their lives.

 

[beh235]

Ah ok, I gotcha. It's pretty interesting. I just hope this can turn into a productive thread and not be derailed by typical NT stupidity. Anyway, it can be a touchy subject. Some actively seek help while others tend to hide. I know you probably at least looked at Kenyon Martin's case, if you haven't I wonder if they have any decent material about his story. Good luck with the seard Grim!

 

[Gill Baka Esq. LLC.]

much appreciated, I never actually looked at the kenyon martin case...I just did a quick search off NT and I found the vid from '09 of Ellis Lankster and his stuttering. You could def tell from the beginning of the interview he was already anticipating his difficulties.



this is severe stuttering but it led to this:

New York Jets Cornerback Ellis Lankster Honored by Stuttering Foundation: Fan Perspective

While New York Jets QB Tim Tebow has been in the news for attending the recent Met Gala in New York, it turns out he isn't the only player attending galas. Jets CB Ellis Lankster recently attended the Stuttering Foundation Gala on May 8th in honor of National Stuttering Awareness Week.
Lankster, who stutters, has not let that get in his way. He says, "God made me a star football player who stutters for a reason. So I can help other people who stutter."
In a press release I received, the Stuttering Foundation announced that Lankster was presented with the Foundation's "Converting Awareness into Action" Award for everything he has done to inspire those who stutter.
Jane Fraser, president of the Stuttering Foundation, stated, "Ellis shows his true toughness by sharing his struggles with fluency as a child. He refused to let his stutter keep him from his dream of playing professional football, and he is committed to helping and inspiring children attain their dreams by overcoming the obstacles they face."
Stuttering, according to the Foundation's website, is a communication disorder that causes things such as abnormal stoppages in speech or words broken by repetition. It affects more than 68 million people worldwide and over three million in the United States alone.
For many children, stuttering can be a difficult battle to face and many children suffer from being picked on. Having a celebrity and professional football player who has lived with stuttering play such an active role in awareness is amazing. Lankster shows children that stuttering does not mean you can't live your dream. Lankster is proof that anything is possible.
While the media in New York and across the nation may focus on Tim Tebow and the role model he is, Lankster is just as much of a role model for so many children and adults living with a stutter. My hats off to him for all the work he is doing to make a difference. It would be nice to see a lot more NFL players making headlines for stories like this.
The Stuttering Foundation was founded back in 1947 by Malcolm Fraser and celebrates its 65th anniversary this year.
Resource: Press Release from the Stuttering Foundation

 

[Remy LeBeau]

My brother and I have stuttered since forever (I'm 23 and he's 34). It doesn't really bother me and I don't let it hold me back from anything.

 

[gaut24]

^Same here, except me and my bro are exactly one year younger then you and your bro haha

 

[Gill Baka Esq. LLC.]

wow thanks for posting. Yea I'm just finishing up a resource project for the undergraduate classes on developmental stuttering and one of the most important indicators of whether a child will stutter is if there is another family member that stutters as well.

There's some really interesting research going on right now trying to find the chromosomes and genes that carry a stuttering effect.

It's great that you guys are still able to lead happy lives.

Did you both ever seek therapy for your stuttering? If you don't mind me asking...feel free to pm me if you want.

What I'm really trying to uncover is if the gender of the clinician had a part in how effective therapy was.

In the slp field...and even i'm surprised by this, but there is just under 4% males who are clinicians. And since the ratio is usually 4:1 of boys to girls who stutter this might be an important issue in the field.

 

[sumrndmdude]

I grew up with a dude who stuttered heavy. He started taking trumpet to help with breath control, apparently it helped a little.

 

[frshstunna]

I stutter randomly...never figured out why or when I do it but it aint that bad....I just slow down when I have to or take pauses

 

[sunny559]

Been stuttering since a kid, always notice when I thinking all over the place or get anxious, i start to stutter & get stuck. The calmer more thought-out i had everything the easier it was to speak fluently. Also when I'm high/drunk I never stutter. strange lol.

 

[Remy LeBeau]

wow thanks for posting. Yea I'm just finishing up a resource project for the undergraduate classes on developmental stuttering and one of the most important indicators of whether a child will stutter is if there is another family member that stutters as well.
There's some really interesting research going on right now trying to find the chromosomes and genes that carry a stuttering effect.
It's great that you guys are still able to lead happy lives.
Did you both ever seek therapy for your stuttering? If you don't mind me asking...feel free to pm me if you want.
What I'm really trying to uncover is if the gender of the clinician had a part in how effective therapy was.
In the slp field...and even i'm surprised by this, but there is just under 4% males who are clinicians. And since the ratio is usually 4:1 of boys to girls who stutter this might be an important issue in the field.

I don't know about my brother but I had speech classes here and there in Jr. High, I never felt like the techniques worked so I accepted that stuttering was a part of me and found other ways to deal with it.

 

[Remy LeBeau]

^Same here, except me and my bro are exactly one year younger then you and your bro haha

 

[216301baller]

I stammer n forget words.mid sentence I used to say things twice..that came from my mother

 

[Gill Baka Esq. LLC.]

I grew up with a dude who stuttered heavy. He started taking trumpet to help with breath control, apparently it helped a little.

I could see it working. A common therapy technique is to teach proper breathing and respiration in order to slow down speech.

I stutter randomly...never figured out why or when I do it but it aint that bad....I just slow down when I have to or take pauses

Yea slowing down your speech is a little controversial among slp's because the goal of therapy is to enable the person who stutters to have as natural as possible speech and techniques like the "pull-out" method (lulz all around) does reduce disfluencies but doesn't sound natural same thing with pauses but it does work.

Been stuttering since a kid, always notice when I thinking all over the place or get anxious, i start to stutter & get stuck. The calmer more thought-out i had everything the easier it was to speak fluently. Also when I'm high/drunk I never stutter. strange lol.

You totally hit one of the most important things i'm learning right now. It's the anticipation of stuttering that most people say is the worst because it brings along the fear and then the coping strategies like avoidance or saying a different word that in the end may make the problem worse. I had a convo with my fluency professor and he brought up the question if drinking/burning would have a positive or negative effect on people who stutter and I gave him the response that it would help remove inhibitions and maybe the anxiety associated with stuttering but then he schooled me and told me that the drinking/burning turn into crutches and that he knew a lot of older people who stuttered that had drinking problems.

I don't know about my brother but I had speech classes here and there in Jr. High, I never felt like the techniques worked so I accepted that stuttering was a part of me and found other ways to deal with it.

Damn that's sad to hear that the things you learned didn't work. A big thing for therapist even as recent as a couple years ago was that they felt that stuttering was such a mystery that they as clinicians felt like they didn't know enough to feel confident in treating it with therapy and often used some outdated techniques that didn't work or that worked in therapy but couldn't be translated into real world situations. But like you said which is super important is that you accepted stuttering as part of yourself...the same thing my uncle who stutters did and it's part of the new wave of therapy approaches...to teach the individual that stuttering doesn't stop you from doing great things and that while you may always stutter your really no different from anyone else in terms of intelligence and ableness to get things done in your life. Props dude.

I stammer n forget words.mid sentence I used to say things twice..that came from my mother

Yup. It leads researchers to conclude that their is a genetic/hereditary component of stuttering. Did your mom ever feel bad that you also came to stutter? The big part of therapy which I find is the absolute best is counseling especially for parents because they feel like they caused the stuttering on their child. There has been no solid evidence that has led to the conclusion that actions performed by parents have ever caused stuttering. While their may be a genetic component and old-school parenting (which I call harsh parenting) where parents/siblings/friends/anyone would react negatively to a childs stuttering could reinforce the stuttering....educating concerned parents helps take that monkey off their back.

 

[currensy]

Never had a stutter problem but get told I talk low when my vocal level sounds fine to me.

 

[snax91]

I stuttered as a kid ,but I went to classes that helped with stuttering all throughout elementary school. Now I only stutter when I talk too fast or get really nervous. I am 20 btw

 

[Gill Baka Esq. LLC.]

Good to hear you had a positive exp. in those classes.

Do you feel that having either a male or female teaching you those classes would have had an effect on how well you did in the class?

 

[11wordisbond]

I worked with a dude this summer who has Turrets syndrome, and let me tell you, it must be 20x worse to have this condition that to be someone who stutters. The guy was constantly makes these weird clicking noises, barking like a dog, or spewing out racist or even gay stuff. I felt sorry for dude, and he didn't seem to have any friends outside of work for whatever reason.

 

[snax91]

Good to hear you had a positive exp. in those classes.
Do you feel that having either a male or female teaching you those classes would have had an effect on how well you did in the class?

I don't think it would have made a difference depending on the sex of the teacher

 

[doosta45]

I have a stammer, one i have had since i was younger. it used to be horrible, used to sound like porky the pig. never took any classes, guess i grew out of it.

ive noticed it's been off and on. it was present in grade school, went away in middle and high school. and just recently came back. people say they notice and chicks say its cute. but people dont cringe when i talk. hell i even work with people where i have to speak with them. never gotten any complaints about my stammer. guess its there but not that noticeable.

 

[Gill Baka Esq. LLC.]

I have a stammer, one i have had since i was younger. it used to be horrible, used to sound like porky the pig. never took any classes, guess i grew out of it.

ive noticed it's been off and on. it was present in grade school, went away in middle and high school. and just recently came back. people say they notice and chicks say its cute. but people dont cringe when i talk. hell i even work with people where i have to speak with them. never gotten any complaints about my stammer. guess its there but not that noticeable.

I think that stuttering does it for some chicks

I had a client in therapy who was in his 20's and he stuttered and his concern was how it affected his job prospects but when I asked him about the girls....I'll just say I was jelly. I think the important thing he showed me is that even though you stutter, you gotta own it and you can't let it keep you down because besides that and with that your still a human being. It's just that some people can cover blemishes on their skin with makeup and others with "problems" that can't be so easily remedied have to build on it and normalize it and def. destigmatize it.

as for growing out of stuttering....every child has disfluencies growing up...we repeat phrases, we make revisions to what we're going to say, we use interjections like "um", "er".....and 80% of children who show disfluencies spontaneously recover...which to this day we don't know exactly why but they just do.

Guaranteed that everyone on NT as a child produced a disfluency that resembles stuttering when they were a kid and even to this day.

what helps is that people aren't as harsh as they were 20 years ago when they see people stutter and we've evolved as a culture as not to mock individuals based on that. What didn't help 20+ years ago was that there were so many negative stereotypes of people who stutter like porky pig and people in movies who played the part of the dimwitted person because they stuttered.

People from back then that stuttered had it pretty rough compared to now. We're moving in a positive direction for sure.