In a nutshell, I’ve been stuttering severely for 55 years; I contracted severe Parkinson’s disease and some dementia a few years ago that forced me into early retirement. My Parkinson’s is so bad now that I can barely walk; I hobble in a fashion with my walker. Just when I thought my life was over, or should be, I stumbled on Lee Lovett’s book, Stuttering & Anxiety Self-Cures, Third Edition, 2019, and I consumed it. When I finished it, I went back to page one and read it again. By the time that I finished the second reading, half my stuttering was gone! I couldn’t believe it. In his book, Lee invites his readers to email him. I did. He stunned me by replying and fast. We had three Skypes, and I no longer stutter. I beat it hard. I am over the moon. It’s a miracle, but it’s true. What’s left of me and my life is going to be a whole heck of a lot better from now on. I’ll never be able to thank Lee enough, never, no way. That’s my story in a nutshell. Now I’ll give you the details.
My name is Doug Nelson. I am a male, 58, from South Carolina. I am married, have 5 children and 6 grandchildren. My children ages range from 40 to 13. My grandchildren range from the age of 18 to newborn. My first wife I was married to for 27 years and my wife now close to 15 years. That makes my story have a little common sense.
I have been stuttering since the age of 3, or maybe since I started talking. My Mother said since my baby brother came home from the hospital so that would be it. Who knows? As long as I can remember. I grew up on a hog/tobacco farm in rural Carolina where my family did not have much money. I did not go to kindergarten but started in the first grade. Kids started picking on me right away. My parents sent me to this lady that did speech therapy at her home. All she had me to do was to sound out words and play Candyland with her kids while she cooked supper. So you can basically say, I have had no speech therapy. The games were fun but the therapy didn’t help.
I had very good grades in school but it was very hard to keep my mouth shut when the teacher asked a question and I knew the answer. Should I answer it? If I did I would surely stutter. The students would laugh and make fun of my speech. I just kept my mouth shut. Some people thought that I was slow because I didn’t talk much and when I did I made funny faces and hand gestures. I got through it though.
Getting married at an early age I got a job where I didn’t have to talk much. I worked at Coke filling vending machines on a military base for 5 years. Then worked for Lowe’s for 12 years where my speech improved some but coming from a small town, everyone knew me and I knew how to get around most big issues. It just took a while to spit out the words.
My biggest challenge was I worked as a representative for rental uniform company for a long time. I would meet with one contact per account. When it was a big authority figure my boss would normally help in a meeting. I knew the words but couldn’t say them. Even so, I stood out in the job by earning numerous awards.
When I met my new wife during this time she saw that I was kind of smart. I never had a chance to go to college but she suggested me to enroll in an online University at the age of 47. I got my BA and also my Master’s of Pastoral Studies at the age of 53.
Being in the finance industry at that time, I was hired to become the finance manager of a new car dealership in town. I have financed used cars before but never new ones. They wanted me first to sell cars before I became the finance manager. I sold 2 cars the first day. My second month I was salesman of the month. My first year I was the number one salesman in South Carolina. I never went into financing. I found my calling. My passion with helping people and my knowledge of getting people with poor or no credit in a new car made me a successful person. That passion and working 18 hours a day, I didn’t stutter nearly as much when selling, because my mind didn’t focus on stuttering. It focused on my passion for being number one and loving to help people have a second chance.
In 2017, life was good, but I started to have medical issues. I started passing out at work. Very fatigued all the time. My very good memory was very bad. I went to the doctor and they could not find out what was wrong with me. I was missing a lot of time at work. They were very patient because I was selling still selling cars out of my bed because I build up a big clientele. Finally after the second neurologist, she found out that I had Parkinson’s disease. I had to quit my job immediately. My disease is A typical Parkinson’s- Multiple System Atrophy. I hobble when I walk and I use a walker.
After being home for some time and being quite sick, my speech problem got worse. I had a hard time even talking to my wife. First feared words were excruciating. Sure I can blame it on my Parkinson’s but I knew that that wasn’t it.
In August of 2019, I somehow ran across Lee Lovett’s book :Stuttering & Anxiety Self Cures on Amazon. I don’t know how. I think that it was a suggestion from God. I don’t just hink it, I know that it was. To tell you the truth, I didn’t have the money right then and there but had to save a couple of weeks to buy it. But when I received it, it has become my Bible.
I read the whole book entirely before I contacted Coach Lee. I promise you I am shedding tears while I am writing this. I wish that I had found Lee 40 years ago. My life would be so much different.
After reading his book, and doing what the book says and skyping with Lee a couple of times, I can happily say that I am fluent. I started skyping with him in March and now it is only May of the same year. A few months to get rid of 58 years of stuttering.
I suggest this book after the Holy Bible. It has suggestions that will even help you after you beat stuttering. YOU have to beat it. The answer is here.
It’s all about the old habits. Breaking them. Getting rid of the old memories of yesteryear when you were picked on at 6 years old. No one remembers you then. Forget about that. Don’t think about negativity. Think about Passion and Joy. Think about something else besides stuttering when you speak and you will not stutter. These are only a few that apply to me but there are many more. Lee’s book is a life application manual.
This book is worth more than a million dollars to me. Lee is also. He is a great man who I have only met a few months ago that seems like a life time friend and mentor of mine. He knows what we go through, because HE went through it himself. A speech therapist who never stuttered before doesn’t have this information like he does, and now like I do.
I now say that I am happy that I stuttered. I am happy that I met Lee Lovett. I am happy that I read his book and beat Satan’s Stuttering. I know what my calling in life is now. It’s to help anyone to beat this thing we call stuttering and beat it quickly and have a successful life. I hope to be able to help Lee coach others. I intend to convert my stuttering past into one of my blessings. So, don’t stutter. You don’t have to do it. Beat it. I did. You can do it too. If you want to hear me speak, go here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEbjx-A4nek.
Thanks again to Coach Lee
DOUG, South Carolina, May 2020