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From: Vivian Sisskin
Date: 11 Oct 2009
Time: 20:00:15 -0500
Remote Name: 71.191.81.161
I don’t know you, but I do know many other teens your age faced with the fear of reading aloud in class. Sometimes reading in class is fearful because of past experiences with reading aloud where you had an embarrassing block. Naturally, the dread of that happening can increase the fear of reading. It’s also possible that you get by in conversation by changing words around, and it’s harder to do that when you read and everyone is listening. Reducing your fear of a speaking situation can also reduce your struggle. By doing a lot of reading aloud, first in very low-feared situations (to a parent or to a close friend), and then gradually more fearful situations (your family, a small group of friends), you can make a fearful situation much less feared. We call this desensitization. It takes time, but can be helpful for many people who stutter. So, reading aloud till you wear out the fear might be helpful for you.