My Discovery.

Below is a brief summary of an article I read recently, It appeared in the Journal of Speech, Language and hearing Research. The title of the article is “An Experimental Clinical trial of a cognitive-behaviour therapy package for chronic stuttering.” For me, the article supports my frame of thinking that whatever the cause of my stammer may be, by tackling the psychological aspects of my “social phobia” This research, however ordinary it may be to the academic or medical world, the support it gives to my theory is having a profound affect on me...and my stammer.

Purpose: The aims of the present study were to (a) examine the rate of social phobia among adults who stutter, (b) study the effects of speech restructuring treatment on social anxiety, and (c) study the effects on anxiety and stuttering of a cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT) package for social anxiety.

Method: Thirty-two adults with chronic stuttering were randomly allocated to receive either speech restructuring following a CBT package for social anxiety or speech restructuring alone. Data were obtained on a variety of speech and psychological measures at pre-treatment, post-CBT, post–speech restructuring, and 12 months

follow-up.

Results: Sixty percent of our cohorts were diagnosed with social phobia. Speech restructuring treatment alone had no impact on the social phobia of our cohort at 12 months follow-up. At follow-up, participants who had received CBT showed no social phobia and greater improvements than control participants on a range of psychological measures of anxiety and avoidance. However, the CBT package made no difference to the speech outcomes of those with social phobia.

Conclusion: The CBT treatment was associated with significant and sustained improvements in psychological functioning but did not improve fluency.

(Menzies Et Al, 2008 Journal of Speech, Language and hearing Research P1451)

For as long as I have stammered I have always had a fear or anxiety of various speaking situations, I wouldn’t dream of ordering in a restaurant or asking for something in a shop, Couldn’t say my name in class, and never spoke out in a group. In more recent years I began to gain more confidence and came “out of my shell” hugely, I went to college, Got a job, married and did all the normal things everyone did but I still had/have what I know as “social anxiety” The difference in the last year though is that I have slowly chipped away at this and grown hugely in confidence, so much so that I feel I am at a crossroads in my life, I am standing, looking back at where I have come from and deciding where I should go?

I have learned recently that to “decide” in Latin is to “cut off” to disregard every other bar one – the path you choose to take. For me it is like the end of the Castaway film with Tom Hanks, He’s in the middle of nowhere, a crossroads in front of him.

Do I continue to allow this “social anxiety” and my stammer control who am I, or do I choose not to stammer anymore? Mmmm tough choice!

I have realised something, I have always called my speech impediment a “stammer” others call it a “stutter” I have always subconsciously considered it as only the physical aspect of a block when I speak, the inability to get the words out. But I now realise, I now define my stammer in a much broader context. My stammer is the social anxiety I feel when I block. It is the anticipation, fear, anxiety, frustration, anger, resentment and downright hate I feel when I block.

In recent posts on this blog I have touched on this, the emotional side to my stammer but never in such a profound way for me. I now have a definition (to be refined no doubt) But I now know that for years I have been making a common mistake of trying to treat the physical aspect of my speech while for the most part ignoring the iceberg under the water!!

I did it recently when for a whole day, and a couple of days after I choose not to stammer, and from here on, from this day on, Thursday 27^th August 2009 I am choosing to no longer allow myself to give into the negative thoughts and feelings I have when I block! To no longer “stammer” in the same why I have for years.

I have long held a belief that I started stammering after a teacher hit me when I was a young boy in school, I don’t think this was the case now, I was born with a speech impediment, a neurological disorder that causes me to block intermittently when I speak. The teacher (Mrs Barnes by the way) probably laid down the bedrock for my anxiety when I tried to speak in class and couldn’t.

From my reading of various books and listening to Anthony Robbins and other motivational speakers I have finally realised that it is I that have chosen to allow these negative feeling to continue all these years, Me blaming the teacher, school yard bullies and so on was a cop out. I’m not being hard on myself, I didn’t know, I couldn’t have had. Those around me, My parents, teachers and even the speech therapists - I now know that they did not fully understand my stammer, They couldn’t have.

I DO...TOMORROW IS A NEW DAY...YEEHAW!!

References

Ross G. Menzies Et Al: An Experimental Clinical Trial of a Cognitive-Behavior Therapy Package for Chronic Stuttering. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research • Vol. 51 • 1451–1464 • December 2008 • D American Speech-Language-Hearing Association

Downloaded from: http://web.ebscohost.com.remote.library.dcu.ie/ehost/pdf?vid=2&hid=106&sid=39960084-e0fc-4f5c-b02c-84b60b02e178@sessionmgr11

On 27/08/09

PS . I'm not sure if people will be able to download the article referenced above as I have access to these through the college I attend. I can't upload it as it would be a breach of copyright but I can email if anyone is looking for it.