Stuttering Controls My Life?

Question

I am 13 and have no friends. I was in the car today and my mom said, "Ben, you need to make some friends this year. You need to have a social life." Then we went to bob evans and i said i wanted hash browns and the guy said excuse me and my dad said, "We can't understand him either.(and just sort of laughed)." Sometimes its like they don't have any idea what I'm going through. My life sucks. I have to sit and watch my older brother go out every night and me stay at home. School is about to start and I know that I am going to start stressing out again. If the teacher asks me to read something aloud it will be so humiliating and embarrasing. I just feel like everything in my life is so bad. What should I do?

Answer 1

email me @ [e-mail] i no what to do i won't be able to respond untill i get aol though

Answer 2

Congradulations on attacking your problem---its curable or can be improved.Maybe a trip to the school counselor might be a place to start.  They can offer some suggestions on where to turn and bring your family into the picture. Dont start the year in a hole---good luck

Answer 3

1. Get a sense of humor about it. Seriously, letting yourself be silly about it will take away all the power from it and release you.

2. Talk slowly, and with pauses. Do it DELIBERATELY. Do it on purpose. Learn to pause where you want to pause to create emphasis or humor.

3. Get creative and prepare in advance for teachers calling on you. You're a kid - Kids are creative - and scary in their creativity. Again, get a sense of humor. What if you were to read S L O W L Y - really S   L   O   W   L  Y - and deliberately. If you were to do that, everyone would laugh - but YOU'D BE IN CONTROL, wouldn't you?

If the teacher were to say you should read faster. You could say (painfully slowly) that you're doing it at the speed that you can do it well. She doesn't want you to do it wrong, does she?

Don't be a smartacre - Just be sincere - and speak slowly and deliberately. When you realize that you're in control - and you feel in control - the stuttering will probably just disappear - permanently.

When in doubt - go back to #1.

For extra credit - sing to yourself. Some really famous personalities defeated stuttering by singing. It's just another way to be in control. If that one works really well for you, and you're asked to read aloud, then SING the material aloud.

Answer 4

you know what . i know what its like.i hAVE a horrible habit of saying are you listening every 2 second. proper friends wont care. just be yourself and listen to people. trust me i had it worse than you with bullying!

Answer 5

Many schools have speech therapists employed to help students who stutter. If I were you, I would ask my parents to look into this. If your parents are not responsive, maybe you can ask your school counselor or teacher for help.

Hang in there!

Answer 6

just accept it and learn to laugh at it, true friends wont care, and im positive that i would LOVE to be your friend. just dont worry about it, your life will move on, look for some speech schools or something to...i wonder if it can help?

Answer 7

It is no fun having a stutter, but others have prevailed and so can you!  Try these resources:

www.stutteringhelp.org  there are videos online that show speech therapists working with stutterers; watch them and learn some techniques.

http://stutteringselfhelp-stutteringself...

http://stutteringhelp-bud.blogspot.com/

http://notesonstuttering.blogspot.com/

Meet others who stutter here http://groups.myspace.com/stutteringfoun...

www.stutteringforum.com

stutteringchat on Yahoo groups

Contact The Stuttering Foundation of America as that is where our family got help. Their book "Self Therapy for the Stutterer" worked wonders after working through it step by step.  Part of the book can be found here http://www.stutteringhelp.org/Default.as...

Some medications that other stutterers have tried include lorazepam, citalopram, and buspar.  Ask your doctor about trying an anti-anxiety medication while you are working on your stuttering.  Be aware that your stuttering may be better than the side-effects of the medication, though.

Each stutterer is different, and a therapist who specializes in treating stuttering will be able to determine what will help you the most as they work with you.