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From: Lynne Shields
Date: 14 Oct 2009
Time: 19:46:32 -0500
Remote Name: 76.215.118.209
Evan, Your question is such a good one, and I think that many people who stutter would agree with you, that slowing their rate may be very helpful, but at the same time, it is SO HARD TO KEEP ON DOING IT. I think that the rate of talking that you typically use is what feels normal to you. Anytime we are used to doing something in a certain way, it is very hard to make a change. A few things you might think about could help you be more successful, if giving yourself more time to manage your speech helps you. Some people find it easier to speak a bit more slowly if they slow themselves down by putting more pauses in their speech. For example, saying "Hi (pause) My name is Evan (pause) and I am 10 years old". These don't need to be long pauses. On the other hand, if going a bit slower overall works well for you, but is really hard to remember, then you can work out some new ways to help yourself remember to go a bit slower. I don't know what you've tried, but some examples could be, 1) putting a little sticky note on your school planner, your bathroom mirror, etc. that has a symbol that means 'go slow' to you. These notes can be moved every few days, so you don't get used to them and start ignoring them(My teenaged sons actually write notes to themselves directly onto their hands, which could serve the same purpose.), 2) decide on two or three times during each day when you will focus on speaking at a slower rate for a brief time (one or two sentences)--when you first talk to your family at breakfast, when you answer a question in math class, when you greet the crossing guard at your school. This gives you a short time of practice several times a day. Once you feel that you are able to do this, you can add more short practices, or see if you can keep talking a bit slower for more than a few sentences--three, then four, etc., 3) ask another person to give you a signal (raised finger, touching their right cheek, etc.) at times you both agree on, to help you remember to go slower. You can probably think of other ways to help remind yourself that will work well for you, if remembering is the problem. And, it takes time, quite some time, to change a habit like how fast or slow you talk, so it is important to give yourself plenty of time to work your way up to where you would like to be. If going slower is hard because it feels uncomfortable to you--you think you sound odd, or you are not tolerating taking more time, then that's a different problem. More practice won't help if slow just feels, well, TOO SLOW. If going slow is important to you, then you may want to 'retune your engine' at bit. By that I mean, work on feeling that the new, slower rate of talking is really O.K. to you, feels comfortable. How could you do this? A few ideas come to mind: 1) tell yourself 'it's O.K. to go slow'--not allowing yourself to feel rushed, so that you'll want to talk faster. 2) telling your friends or family that you are going to work on talking a bit slower because it helps you with your speech--this would help you if you worry that others won't wait for you to finish what you are saying, or if you worry that they will think your new rate of talking is odd, 3) watching yourself talking on video, going at your slower rate, and getting used to how it feels and sounds. If you are seeing a speech therapist, you can ask them to help you work this problem out. You have an idea of what you want to do, which is a great place to begin--I wish you all the best as you figure out how to achieve your goal. Regards, Lynne