They say old habits die hard. That certainly applies to stuttering / stammering. 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 fluent way of speaking? Changing your speaking habits takes effort and commitment. Controlling your stutter and staying that way is not a short-term gig. It requires a whole change in the way you speak and think.
That may seem overwhelming, but it’s really not. You just need to know which steps to take and then take them. The best way to break a bad habit is to replace it with a new habit that is healthier for you.
Don’t take the easy way out. As an adolescent or adult who stutters, your dysfluent habit has probably been ingrained for many years. If it was easy to recover from stuttering, there wouldn’t be millions of people around the world suffering from this affliction. For a PWS to maintain ongoing fluent speech, it takes dedication and a conscious effort to practise technique regularly and use it every time you speak.
The temptation to let it slip, to not be diligent about maintaining fluent speech, can be devastating. Motivation is the key. Can you relate to the teenage lad who attended an expensive intensive stuttering therapy course ten years ago, who came away speaking fluently and has successfully maintained fluent speech ever since? This lad’s parents were struggling financially but they scraped together the money for that course. The lad genuinely wanted help and obviously felt indebted to his parents. This was his motivation. Others who attended the same course have fallen back into old speaking habits because they lacked the motivation to persevere.
Once you’ve found your inner driving force, this motivation will spur you to success with your speech fluency. Your speaking technique will work for you not against you.
Quit making excuses! Making excuses for why you’re not succeeding is self-defeating. Using an excuse as a crutch will keep you from making any progress. PWS do achieve ongoing fluency when they put their mind to it and stick to it.
While the speech habits of a PWS substantially contribute to their stuttering, their habits of thought and perception are likely to be major contributors also. Stuttering / stammering is a communication disorder. It does not only involve our speech, but our whole self including our emotions, perceptions and physiological responses. As John C. Harrison wrote in his Forward to 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 a lasting recovery, I had to address, not just my speech, but the entire system.”
Empower yourself to change your stuttering habits and become proactive in your desire to speak fluently. Join me on the road to fluency.