Hello, my name is Yuying, I am 33 years old, Chinese, I am currently living in Dublin, Ireland. I have a BA and a Masters, and I am an accountant. I do not recall when exactly I started stuttering, the earliest experience I had was in an English class when I was around 10, I was called to stand up to read a paragraph, I block on the word ‘red’, standing there with my face all blushed for a long time. The crowds were laughing, and I was humiliated. Since then, I started my stutter and my feared words continued changing following my life changes. And I started labelling myself as somebody ‘strange’ and less ‘equal’ to normal people. Anxiety, anger deteriorates my stuttering, I did not know how to calm myself other than ‘forcing’ words out.
I am a situational stutter, and my issue is mainly blocks. I had tried speech therapist, I was told to accept it, I was shown videos of comedians with severe stutter and making fun of themselves, I was told to deliberately stutter with people just to accept this is me as there is no cure. I felt desperate and the method did not work.
I found WSSA after a bad incident in Oct 2023. It immediately caught my eyes, as Lee emphasized that stuttering is curable, it is simply a bad habit from the past and it can be unlearnt. I started researching on neuroplasticity and I felt hope. In each of Coach Lee’s ‘Stop Stuttering Masterclass’ I realized that it is easy to use the tools. I got on ‘Crutches daily practice’ meetings, I see live evidence of how people applying crutches and how they are converted from PWS (people who stutter) and PWSS (people who stopped stuttering) in a short frame of time. After one practice call, I immediately felt my ‘root’, I felt stronger. That energy had served me well the next few days even after one call.
For more structured learning, I enrolled 1-1 coaching sessions with coach Prathusha on top of my 1, 2, 3 punches (affirmations, reading aloud, using crutches). Throughout the sessions, we drilled into each crutch, and we designed a speech plan. Being ‘Soft, Short, Extreme pronunciation (Crutch 9), Linking (Crutch 10)’. It has helped me significantly, especially on my speaking style. I used to swallow words a lot due to my lack of confidence (talking in a weak & rushed tone), which further impaired my confidence, many times I could not get my ideas across either out of stuttering or completely messing it up due to my fear. With Crutch 9, I spoke more firmly, confidently, and clearly; and with Crutch 10, I am less robotic and more enjoyable to listen to. I combine also with modulation, passion, joy, and smile. I felt more control and confidence in my speech since.
I also cannot emphasize enough the importance of mind training when it is combined with crutches that’s the game changer. I become a better version of myself, my emotions & speech are much more stable, and I feel more resilient and confident. My changes and takeaways are mainly as following:
- I understand that speaking with a crutch is not something I need to be ashamed of, it helps me become a better speaker.
- I free myself from other people’s judgement.
- I believe I am fluent; I celebrate every success.
- I am bigger than fear / anxiety / anger, I enjoy beating them.
- I am proud of myself because I do my best for everything, and I am being kind to everybody.
- I liberate myself from perfection, I don’t grade myself too hard.
- I am a more peaceful soul; I live my daily life with joy, and I have significantly improved my relationship with close ones.
- I stop holding myself back, I am living my life fully.
- I don’t take things too seriously, I laugh, and I move on.
- I am a happier human being, and today I will make a great day.
I want to continue improving my speech, especially in my daily conversations with people, I will be a better speech cop, be more conscious of using my speech plan during any conversation, with anybody, under any situation. I know if I focus on my speech plan, I will not stutter, even in the most stressful situations. I will continue working on my 1, 2, 3 punch daily and continue practicing positive affirmations. My goal now is to exercise the speech plan in every speaking situation, and I feel with each day I’m getting better at it with more and more practice. I will stay with this program until I can proudly say I have truly changed my stuttering into blessing. I believe I am, and I will be the best speaker in my group. I smile while speaking and I am / will love speaking anywhere, anytime.
As mentioned in Coach Lee’s book
‘We have free choice, to accept or reject thoughts.
Nothing compels us to think anything except our own desires.
Use your mental switch to dictate your thought…
Believe that you can improve, and you will’.
Yuying Li, Ireland, June 2024