[ Contents | Search |Previous | Up ]
From: Lisa LaSalle
Date: 30 Apr 2010
Time: 16:05:33 -0500
Remote Name: 69.222.77.73
Jessica, Good for you for posting your question! I can only imagine how you might feel, probably awkward and frustrated, to feel that you need to choose between speaking but not be understood and not speaking at all, when you have more than 2 sentences to say. Have you sought out speech therapy in your area? An online resource for self-help is http://associations.missouristate.edu/ICA/ just for starters. Perhaps others online here can offer more ideas for you. One possibility is to acknowledge the problem of cluttering esp with listeners who might discriminate against you for NOT knowing what's up with your speech (e.g., perhaps you would say something in a job interview like "I know the answer, but bear with me as I answer you here, because I have a speech disorder known as 'cluttering' - no affect on my IQ BTW :) - and I cope with it by giving you one chunk of info at a time..." I actually don't know how well that would work, tho. I realize that is hard enough for people who stutter to acknowledge that they have a more commonly known disorder like "stuttering," let alone trying that with "cluttering." But it may be worth a try. It sounds like you're ready to make a change in your life and build confidence for saying more than two sentences in a row. I know that saying more than two sentences in a row is something that I value, and perhaps take for granted too often.