Perfectionism and Stuttering: Is There a Connection

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Who wants to be perfect? :-)

From: Alan Badmington
Date: 07 Oct 2008
Time: 12:28:18 -0500
Remote Name: 195.194.75.225

Comments

Hi Barbara and Evelyn, I thoroughly enjoyed reading your interesting and thought-provoking paper. I possessed a perfectionist trait for many years - everything I did had to perfect. I feel that I was attempting to compensate for the problems I was experiencing with my speech. Today, things are SOOOOOOOOOOOO different. (Incidentally, that was not a stutter) :-)Stuttering has disappeared from my mind, in the sense that I cease to think about the physical act, or my personal attachment to such behaviour. Minor dysfluencies may occur very infrequently (principally in casual conversation), but they do not involve blocking. Most of the time, they don't even register with me. Those of which I become aware, I choose to totally disregard. Fluent speakers don't take account of them, why should I? Perfectionism no longer oversees my speech. Another important factor is that I refuse to concern myself about how others view my speech. I live my life in accordance with the adage "What other people think of me is none of MY business. If they have a problem with the way in which I talk, then it's their problem, NOT mine." :-) Life is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much more enjoyable - indeed I might be tempted to describe it as being PERFECT. :-) Kindest regards Alan Badmington


Last changed: 10/07/08