This is something I've wanted to try for a while; I've tried keeping a diary but never get beyond page two! Maybe this will be different.
A bit of background on Charlie
I've stammered all my life with varying degrees of severity, In the last couple of years (now in my 30's) I have matured a lot and accept my stammer as part of me. Like many others I am very skeptical of any "blue pills" or other rabbit hole wonder cures that are out there.
I tackle my stammer by constantly working to increase and maintain my confidence level. I say constantly but truth be told my effort rises and falls like the tide, I'll read a new book or have a bad day and I'm reinforced to focus on my speech for another few weeks, I'm hoping that by keeping this blog it will keep me focused for my mission in 2008 (more about that later).
When I was younger I went to speech therapy with a good deal of success (for a time). What I'm interested at the moment is exploring my stammer and trying to push out my comfort zone to try situations that I would normally avoid, my biggest bad habit is not keeping eye contact when I block. Anyway I’m sure I'll fill in more of the gaps as I go along.
PS for any "fluent" readers reading this firstly welcome! Secondly If you read this and think "Christ this is sad" try the little experiment below to see what it is like to be a stammerer.
Understand a stammer's perspective
You'll need a friends help for this, During a day ask your friend to walk behind you and every so often give you a little slap on the head (not hard enough to hurt, just to make you aware they are there) This has to be completely random and in different situations, i.e. in a shop asking for a packet of cigarettes, when another friend comes by to say hello, when your placing an order in a restaurant.
Your accomplice must be totally committed to this and be completely random, sometimes leaving you be completely uninterrupted - other times only slapping you on specific words or not letting you get a single word out. Sounds funny at first, but it gets very ******* annoying after a while I assure you.
Things to look out for.
- Other people's reactions
- Your level of anxiety when you are about to say something
- Try telling somebody what you are doing and see if they understand enough to stay and wait for you to speak.
- You've read this and thought "no way could I do that"
Remember, this is only for one day or even a couple of hours, Think about having this every day of your life.
A bit of background on Charlie
I've stammered all my life with varying degrees of severity, In the last couple of years (now in my 30's) I have matured a lot and accept my stammer as part of me. Like many others I am very skeptical of any "blue pills" or other rabbit hole wonder cures that are out there.
I tackle my stammer by constantly working to increase and maintain my confidence level. I say constantly but truth be told my effort rises and falls like the tide, I'll read a new book or have a bad day and I'm reinforced to focus on my speech for another few weeks, I'm hoping that by keeping this blog it will keep me focused for my mission in 2008 (more about that later).
When I was younger I went to speech therapy with a good deal of success (for a time). What I'm interested at the moment is exploring my stammer and trying to push out my comfort zone to try situations that I would normally avoid, my biggest bad habit is not keeping eye contact when I block. Anyway I’m sure I'll fill in more of the gaps as I go along.
PS for any "fluent" readers reading this firstly welcome! Secondly If you read this and think "Christ this is sad" try the little experiment below to see what it is like to be a stammerer.
Understand a stammer's perspective
You'll need a friends help for this, During a day ask your friend to walk behind you and every so often give you a little slap on the head (not hard enough to hurt, just to make you aware they are there) This has to be completely random and in different situations, i.e. in a shop asking for a packet of cigarettes, when another friend comes by to say hello, when your placing an order in a restaurant.
Your accomplice must be totally committed to this and be completely random, sometimes leaving you be completely uninterrupted - other times only slapping you on specific words or not letting you get a single word out. Sounds funny at first, but it gets very ******* annoying after a while I assure you.
Things to look out for.
- Other people's reactions
- Your level of anxiety when you are about to say something
- Try telling somebody what you are doing and see if they understand enough to stay and wait for you to speak.
- You've read this and thought "no way could I do that"
Remember, this is only for one day or even a couple of hours, Think about having this every day of your life.
