The success or failure of therapy will depend on your commitment to follow through. It will not be easy, but it can be done. you have to work hard with all these steps and rules which will be mentioned here, it can take more time than you expect but if you hold still and believe in your self and the program you will see a great change in your self.
The first thing you must do is to admit to yourself that you need to change, that you really want to do something about the way you presently talk. This is tough but your commitment must be total; not even a small part of you must hold back. Don’t dwell longingly on your fluency in the magical belief that some day your speech blocks will disappear. There is no magic potion, no pink pill that will cure stuttering.
Stammering mostly (except in some rare cases caused by some physical injuries which cause damage to head) is just a kind of a bad habit but very deeply rooted. It effects the mind and the psychology so much that to give up this habit becomes very difficult. So the more you are older the more difficult it becomes for a person to get rid of this problem because of his/her so much of accumulated bad experiences and he she starts to thinks that now i is very difficult for me to cope up with this thing, so it is easy to rectify the problem in tender age itself. so in this program you will need dedication and commitment to follow all these steps and rules on regular basic unless and until you start to see changes within yourself.
SO HERE I WILL FIRST TALK ABOUT THE GROUND RULES FOR SELF SPEECH THERAPY MORE THINGS WILL BE DISCUSSED IN FURTHER ARTICLES, THESE ARE AS FOLLOWS :-
(1) Make a habit of always talking slowly and deliberately whether you stutter or not.
It is better to go too slow than too fast.1 It is easier to control a slow turtle than a fast rabbit, so slow down.
This first guideline calls for you to build the habit of always talking slowly and deliberately. This induces a
manner of talking which is generally respected. But it is mainly recommended because it will result in a more varied and relaxed manner of speaking which is more responsive to therapy procedures. Also, taking your time when talking tends to counteract feelings of time pressure that stutterers sometimes have when called on to speak. Some speak too quickly, trying to get their words out before they stumble or block. This just tends to generate tension and aggravates their stuttering. To help reduce time pressure, it is also suggested that
when you talk, you should often pause momentarily between phrases (or sentences). This will help lessen time pressure reactions.
(2) When you star to talk, do it easily, gently and smoothly without forcing and prolong the first sounds of words you fear.
That means talking firmly with your voice smoothly flowing into the sounds of words with light, loose movements of your lips, tongue and jaw.This most important guideline suggests that when you stutter, slide smoothly and gently into the words in as easy and calm manner as possible.2 If you can comply with this one rule and let yourself stutter easily, your severity will lessen and so will the frequency of your stuttering. Also, this rule recommends that while talking easily, you prolong the first sound of any word you fear. And furthermore, that you make a point of prolonging the transition to the next sound or sounds of that word. This only refers to words you fear
(3) Stutter openly and do not try to hide the fact that you are a stutterer.
Bring it into the open as there is no advantage in pretending that you are a normal speaker. Trying to hide your stuttering only helps to perpetuate it. Tell people with whom you talk that you are a stutterer and adopt an attitude of being willing to stutter voluntarily. If you adopt a frank and open attitude, it will help to reduce what shame and embarrassment you may have about your difficulty . If stutterers did not try to hide the fact that they stutter, most of them would be less sensitive about their problem and, as a result, have much less difficulty. To desensitize yourself and increase your self-confidence is a difficult assignment as it will take time to get rid of your fear. However, the more you work at it, the happier you will be. Practice openly the techniques you have learned to reduce the frequency and severity of your stuttering blocks. This should add to your ability to use them more easily.
(4) Identify and eliminate any unusual gestures, facial contortions, or body movements which possibly you may exhibit when stuttering or trying to avoid difficulty.
This does not refer to what you do incorrectly with your muscles of speech which will be carefully investigated later. The above rule refers to unnecessary mannerisms or noticeable movements which may characterize the particular pattern of the way you stutter; these are called “secondary symptoms.” Secondary symptoms include such things as head jerks, eye blinking or closings, hand or arm movements, foot tapping,
ear pulling, knee slapping, raising eyebrows, facial grimaces, finger tapping, covering your mouth with your hand, etc., etc. To accomplish this, it will be necessary to find out and identify what secondary symptoms you have. This information is needed so you can work at eliminating them. These are bad habits which possibly you may have fallen into, thinking they would help you speak more easily but in fact they only add to
the abnormality of your stuttering.
(5) Do your best to stop all avoidance, postponement or substitution habits
Much of a your difficulty may be traced to avoidance practices. While temporarily affording relief, such habits actually increase your fears and cause more trouble in the long run.2 For instance, if the telephone rings and you refuse to answer because you are afraid you won’t be able to talk well, the act of avoiding this situation will only tend to build up your fear of the telephone. To help cancel fear, you should do your best to not dodge speaking situations, avoid social contacts, give up speech attempts or leave the scene of approaching trouble, substitute words or use postponements. Don’t avoid words you might stutter on—and keep your appointments. This can be a really tough assignment but many authorities feel that non-avoidance will give you more relief than any other therapy procedure. Avoidances have been described as a pump in the reservoir of fear.
(6) Maintain eye contact with the person to whom you talk.
Possibly you may already do so, but if not, start looking your listener in the eye more or less continuously in a natural way.1 It is particularly important for you not to look away when you stutter or expect to. Possibly because they are ashamed of their speech difficulty, many who stutter have a tendency to avoid looking at their listener when stuttering. Using continuous normal eye contact will work toward reducing feelings of shame and embarrassment. If you do not already maintain healthy, normal eye contact, concentrate on doing so.
(7) Analyze and identify what your speech muscles are doing improperly when you stutter.
It is an essential and very important part of this program for you to be able to determine specifically what you are having our speech muscles do incorrectly when you stutter. This involves finding out what you are doing wrong or unnecessarily which needs to be modified or corrected. To repeat, since you are using your speech muscles improperly when you stutter, it is important for you to discover what you are having them do incorrectly so you can work on correcting them. Making use of such an investigation is a key point in therapy. We urge you to follow through on this rule and study your speech muscle behavior. Then you can duplicate it in order to compare it with your speech when you talk without difficulty. There are various ways to observe yourself. One way would be to hold on to your stuttering blocks long enough to determine what you are doing or stutter slowly enough to give you time to get the feel of what is happening. Or watch yourself in the mirror when making phone calls—or listen to a playback of a tape recording of your speech, etc.
(9) Always keep moving forward as you speak
unless you repeat purposely to emphasize a word or thought. If you stutter, plan to stutter forward so as not
to hold or repeat any sound. Some stutterers have the habit of repeating sounds which are difficult for them
when trying to get through a word (b-b-b-boy, etc.). When you start and voice a sound or word, there is no
use holding or making it over again. Continuing the flow of your voice will work against any tendency to hold a block, prolong or repeat sounds or words on which trouble is anticipated. The idea is to keep your voice moving forward from one word or sound until the next. When you anticipate trouble on a word, plan to use a prolonged easy onset on the first sound and on the transition to the next sound but keep the voice going forward. Idea is to maintain a kind of flow just like when we sing a song in a continuous flow and move from one word to another in a flow in a similar manner maintain a kind of a flow and move from one word to another and try not to back track your words.
(10) Try to talk with inflection and melody in a firm voice
Avoid talking in a monotone and keep varying your speaking rate and its loudness. Speak in a melodious manner without sounding artificial. Using natural expression with variations in tone and rate will make your talking more relaxing and pleasant.
(11) Pay attention to the fluent speech you have.
Feel its movements and postures. Don’t just be aware of your stuttering. Listen to yourself when you are fluent. You need to recognize and remember your successful and pleasant speaking experiences. Mentally replay successful speaking situations and feel your fluency to build your confidence.Remind yourself that you have the ability to speak fluently. To help give yourself that feeling, spend time speaking or reading to yourself when relaxed and alone. Do some of this while watching yourself in the mirror. As you do it, be conscious of the fact that it is possible for you to speak easily without effort in a normal way without difficulty.
(12) While working on this program try to talk as much as you can since you will need every opportunity to work on the procedures recommended. This does not mean that you should make a nuisance of yourself but talk more—you’ve probably been silent long enough. Speak out when you want to.1,2,3 If opportunities to talk do not exist, you should do your best to create them. Let others hear your ideas. If you can’t find a listener, there’s always the phone. Call a department store and ask a question.
THIS WAS THE GROUND OR BASIC THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND I SUGGEST ALL OF YOU WHO STAMMER TO MAINTAIN A NOTEBOOK AND TO WRITE DOWN ALL THE ESSENTIAL TIPS AND RULES AND SEE THEM DAILY WHEN YOU WAKE UP TRY TO READ THEM ON DAILY BASIC THIS WILL SET YOUR MIND FOR THE WHOLE DAY AND YOU WILL FEEL MORE CONFIDENT, THIS PROGRAM NEEDS DEDICATION TO FOLLOW I HOPE THAT YOU ALL WILL SHOW THAT AND BY FOLLOWING ALL THESE STEPS YOU WILL SURELY IMPROVE TO A GREAT EXTENT, IT WILL TAKE TIME BUT SURELY IT WILL HELP.
READ NEXT ARTICLE FOR THE MAIN FOUR RULES TO FOLLOW FOR SELF THERAPY.
