I call myself Tom. I’m 30, and I live in Texas. I’m a data analyst for a major University. I started stuttering at age 5 and stuttered around 60% of my words, mainly blocks and repeats, in many conversations. I had therapies during school, but they didn’t solve the problem. In mid-2023, I found Lee’s stuttering books on Amazon, and they launched a new life (and new speech) for me. I joined World Stop Stuttering Association, and I had some private coaching from WSSA’s Coach Javier. Later, I had a couple of sessions with Coach Lee. I want to thank them and WSSA and Lee for the books. It’s the only program in the world that I know that really works.
The good news is that I have stopped having incidents where I appear speech disabled; so, I am healing, and on the way to fluency (meaning speaking with zero thoughts about stuttering). The bad news is that I still fear speaking and need to maneuver around some words sometimes. So, I have not beaten satan stuttering completely yet, but I am able to prevent bad incidents and appearing speech disabled, and that’s huge. Not appearing speech disabled is what Coach Lee calls “First Base”. That’s where I am. I’m now working on “Second Base”, which is not thinking or maneuvering around any words. “Third Base” loves speaking everywhere, and “Home Plate” uses mind training to attack non-speech issues.
I am unlearning that I must force (or even think) words. I’m learning that it’s safe to pause whenever I need to. It may feel dangerous and uncomfortable to pause because we are so used to stuttering and hurrying. But sometimes, what is familiar can feel safe, even if it isn’t, and what is unfamiliar can feel unsafe, even if it isn’t.
I am learning that if I can speak in one situation fluently, I can speak in any situation fluently. It may take time to get there, but I will go up my fluency ladder one step at a time.
There is a pertinent quote from a book called The Boy, The Horse, The Fox and The Mole. A boy and a horse are lost in the woods, and the boy says to the horse “I can’t see a way out”. The horse says “can you see your next step?”, and the boy says yes, so the horse says “Then just focus on that”.
My next step, and the next step of all PWS, is the decision you make next time you open your mouth and approach a stutter. We have a choice to add another bad incident, or use a crutch or speech plan to stay fluent. One step at a time, I will beat this, and so will you. I know that, as long as keep avoiding appearing speech disabled and ignore my minor mistakes, it’s just a question of time until I can join Coach Lee and say, “I love to speak everywhere. I converted stuttering into a blessing.” I’ll get there and you likely can as well. WSSA and Lee’s books are the perfect tools to stop appearing speech disabled, which I, and hundreds of others have done – all of this for a small fraction of the cost of most speech therapies.