They say old clothes are hard to die for. That certainly applies to stuttering/stuttering. Much of a person’s stuttering is a learned response. Why not learn and maintain a fluency technique to create a new neural pathway, a new fluid way of speaking? Changing your speaking habits takes effort and commitment. Controlling your stutter and keeping it that way is not a short-term job. It requires a complete change in the way of speaking and thinking.
That may sound overwhelming, but it really isn’t. You just need to know what steps to take and then take them. The best way to break a bad habit is to replace it with a new one that is healthier for you.
Don’t take the easy road. As a teen or adult who stutters, your disfluent habit has probably been ingrained for many years. If it were easy to recover from stuttering, there wouldn’t be millions of people around the world suffering from this affliction. For a PWS to maintain continuous fluent speech, it takes dedication and a conscious effort to practice the technique regularly and use it every time he speaks.
The temptation to let it go, to not be diligent in keeping your speech flowing, can be devastating. Motivation is the key. Can you relate to the teenage boy who went through an expensive intensive stuttering therapy course ten years ago, came out fluent and has successfully maintained fluent speech ever since? This boy’s parents were struggling financially, but they scraped together the money for that course. The boy really wanted help and obviously felt indebted to his parents. This was his motivation. Others who attended the same course have fallen back into old oral habits because they lacked the motivation to persevere.
Once you have found your inner driving force, this motivation will propel you to success with the fluency of your speech. Your speaking technique will work for you, not against you.
Stop making excuses! Making excuses why you are not succeeding is counterproductive. Using an excuse as a crutch will keep you from progressing. PWS achieves consistent flow when you put your mind to it and stick to it.
While a PWS’s speech habits contribute substantially to their stutter, it’s likely that their habits of thought and perception are also major contributors. Stuttering/stuttering is a communication disorder. It involves not just our speech, but our entire being, including our emotions, perceptions, and physiological responses. As John C. Harrison wrote in his preview of Bob G. Bodenhamer’s book, Mastering Blocking and Stuttering: A Cognitive Approach to Achieving Fluency: “I had to look at stuttering as an interactive, dynamic, self-sustaining system. If I wanted to achieve lasting recovery, I had to address not just my speech, but the entire system.”
Empower yourself to change your stuttering habits and be proactive in your desire to speak fluently. Join me on the path to fluency.
