Stuttering Devices

Many people with a stutter / stammer who undertake intensive therapy courses to manage their dysfluency have wonderful initial success. Their fluency, immediately after one or two weeks of intensive therapy, is quite often very good. Many of these people are experiencing what we recovering stutterers call, 'Carry-Over Fluency'. Carry-over fluency is a TRAP.

This carry-over fluency, or control over your stutter following therapy, will usually disappear unless concerted effort is applied to maintaining good fluency technique as learnt during intensive therapy.

Periods of intensive stuttering / stammering therapy, where the mind is put through a concentrated retraining process, leads to the founding of clearer, although rudimentary, neural pathways in the brain. We all have neural pathways in our brain that control our speech, however in relation to stutterers, our neural pathways tend to be cluttered with other negative neurological / psychological stresses which tend to get in the way of us achieving fluent speech. When speech rates are slowed down and breathing is controlled, most fluency retraining techniques establish a solid rhythmical phrase pause, phrase pause relationship.

This slowed rhythmical speech / breath relationship, if it is practised consistently, leads to wonderful control over fluency and often sees the disappearance of our stuttering behaviour. This occurs because new neural pathways have been established in their rudimentary form. That is, the new pathways are there, but at this early stage are still fragile and exposed to pre-existing negative perceptions that still exist in the stutterer's mind. By continuing to use excellent technique learned in therapy, the stutterer can circumvent negative psychological thoughts and perceptions. This of course takes time, consistency is the key. All good stuttering therapy programs should also include solid retraining in cognitive areas.

The more we maintain fluency and the more excellent practice we use, the more fluent we are. You will want to stay that way! The longer we stay fluent, the more empowered we become. Positive things start to happen to us, including:

Improved self-concept
Improved self-confidence
Speech formulation improves
True personality shines through
Negativity disappears to a large extent
We listen more carefully
We enjoy conversation

All these things happen, and more, simply by employing good fluency technique at all times. Don't let the feeling of carry-over fluency trick you into thinking you are cured. We are not cured! There are challenges ahead, but rest assured, many people worldwide have undertaken stuttering therapy with great success. Whatever fluency shaping therapy you have undertaken, you are the one who is ultimately in control.

You take control over your own recovery, do what you have to do, be boss over your mind and kick that old stuttering habit. Join me on that road to fluency.

Dave E is one of the directors of Ezy-Speech, a complete in-home stuttering therapy and support program for adolescents and adults. Ezy-Speech has been developed via a successful collaboration between both specialist clinicians and recovering stutterers. For more information, visit the website: www.ezyspeech.com.au. Information about Ezy-Speech can also be found on the Australian Speak Easy Association website.