Do you ever stutter or lisp?

Canterpiece · Dec 12, 2018

LaneyM said: ↑

I'm a speech therapist in training so I always find these conversations interesting. When I'm nervous I can definitely mess my words up. I feel like my s's sound funny if I'm overly aware of how I'm speaking, and especially when followed by "ts" at the end of words ("wrists, coasts," etc). I also mess up my ch's and sh's on occasion (what you would call a lateral lisp because the air is leaking out the sides of the tongue instead of flowing forward). In my experience, anxiety can throw a wrench in everything about communicating, from making my mind go blank to getting actual words out, so I'm not surprised when I'm occasionally a less than perfect speaker and don't see it as a sign of a problem.

True stuttering is different and distinct from simply making production errors on sounds (like saying "sh" instead of "s"). It's generally present from childhood and is more than just the occasional repetition (a lot of physical tension in the face and throat, for example, sometimes preventing sound from coming out at all).
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What got you interested in being a speech therapist?

I don't really remember much about my time in speech therapy, (understandable, considering I was only four) except the fact that they had this map of the World in the room for some reason. However, I've read notes from educators about my behaviour during this time. People were concerned that I might never improve, so they mapped any progress I made quite carefully. I was selectively mute and withdrawn from others, which was put down to me feeling insecure and anxious about my speech.

My case was rather severe, the only person I would talk to was my sister, even then it was only in limited words and occasionally pointing. I refused to write, showed little to no body language most of the time, and wouldn't talk at school or to my parents. According to my notes, sometimes I would run out of the classroom and go into the play area, where I'd pick up and drop a toy spade on the ground a few times. This was probably due to feeling anxious and overwhelmed around others. It took about a year, but I did eventually improve. Not only was I able to speak more in public, my body language changed dramatically. Before the speech therapy, my poses in photos were rather awkward and inward facing, whereas afterwards I actually looked at the camera, and my body language was much more welcoming than before. I gained friends surprisingly quickly despite a rocky start. Although, I'll admit that I made a few social blunders.

LaneyM · Dec 12, 2018

Canterpiece said: ↑

What got you interested in being a speech therapist?

I don't really remember much about my time in speech therapy, (understandable, considering I was only four) except the fact that they had this map of the World in the room for some reason. However, I've read notes from educators about my behaviour during this time. People were concerned that I might never improve, so they mapped any progress I made quite carefully. I was selectively mute and withdrawn from others, which was put down to me feeling insecure and anxious about my speech.

My case was rather severe, the only person I would talk to was my sister, even then it was only in limited words and occasionally pointing. I refused to write, showed little to no body language most of the time, and wouldn't talk at school or to my parents. According to my notes, sometimes I would run out of the classroom and go into the play area, where I'd pick up and drop a toy spade on the ground a few times. This was probably due to feeling anxious and overwhelmed around others. It took about a year, but I did eventually improve. Not only was I able to speak more in public, my body language changed dramatically. Before the speech therapy, my poses in photos were rather awkward and inward facing, whereas afterwards I actually looked at the camera, and my body language was much more welcoming than before. I gained friends surprisingly quickly despite a rocky start. Although, I'll admit that I made a few social blunders.
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I'm glad to hear you've made progress through the years and feel better about your speech!

I kind of fell backwards into speech therapy. I wanted to teach for many years and came across the profession while researching for grad school. I shadowed a local SLP (I believe they're called SLTs in the UK?) and just wanted to learn more and more! Now I'm interning in a school and I love it more everyday. I think a big thing is I feel a kind of kinship with people with communication disorders because I struggled (and still struggle) with social anxiety disorder for many years. It was so bad at one point I had trouble leaving my house. I've gotten better thanks to some excellent therapists, but I can understand some of the avoidance and the shame that some people who stutter feel over something that isn't even their fault-society just makes it a big deal. I would structure my day to avoid getting a panic attack, and certain people in my life would make me feel like it was my fault. I've read a lot of people who stutters' stories and it's just incredibly motivating for me to help others reach a point where they can say "what they want to say, when they want to say it." In my classroom (mostly 9-12 year olds), I teach fluency strategies and stuttering modification, but I also try to make it a place where they can feel comfortable talking about their stuttering.

BlueAndWhite · Dec 12, 2018

I tend to stutter a decent amount, especially when like I'm nervous or super especially when I'm trying super hard to make my voice sound not like a more typically masculine voice like on the phone or when ordering food through drive thrus.

I went through several years of voice therapy when I was younger so I'm better then I used to be, but it can still be really bothersome especially when I'm trying to talk into a group of people

Do you ever stutter or lisp?

Canterpiece
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Do you ever stutter or lisp?

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