Stop Blaming The Stutterer

I found a stuttering link today, advertising a workshop and some articles about stuttering: http://www.masteringstuttering.com

From the website, under the "What we believe" link, I found this information:

1. Blocking and stuttering are learned behaviors.

2. Learned behaviors can be unlearned.

3. If you can speak fluently in even one context, you can speak fluently in any context.

I wanted to address these because the website claims that stuttering is a learned habit, thus, "As you can probably already tell, we believe it is one’s thinking that creates the blocking and stuttering. We do not believe that if a person is fluent consistently in certain situations and blocks in others that the problem is physical and certainly not genetic. It is a very well learned behavior come from childhood hurts and reinforced through years of practice."

I disagree with most of this, simply because peer-reviewed research shows these conclusions above to simply not be entirely accurate. It's much too simplistic an approach.

While I believe that there is a "learned" component to our blocks and stutters, I believe most of those components are simply emotional reactions TO our stutter...not the other way around. The first time I blocked, it wasn't because of a mindset...it wasn't because I was afraid...it wasn't because I was put in a difficult situation. Nobody knows why one first stutters.

My reaction to my first block, however, caused me to become stressed, anxious, upset, etc. And because I blocked, I began to attempt to push past the block, physically...and eventually I found could speak. I taught myself my first lesson that day:

1. You will block. 2. Physical, exerted effort is the way out.

This lesson was repeated over and over and over throughout my childhood until I eventually carried it over into adulthood, where it was pretty much solidified and a natural part of my thinking, harmful as it may be.

Where is the habit? What is the learned aspect of this? The learned portion is my REACTION TO my blocks and stutter. That is the habit. And this also began to bleed over into my reaction towards stuttering situations where I might potentially stutter. This created a cycle, a pattern of having a certain emotional reaction to speaking situations.

However, there are times when I have zero stress. I feel totally at ease. I'm completely comfortable. Yet, I block and stutter. For seemingly no reason at all.

Further, I can go months and months with no problem saying words that begin with the letter F...and then suddenly, I begin having problems with just that letter. Or maybe two letters.

I believe that if that site were correct...there would be consistency in one's stutter. In fact, we would see consistency in most people's stuttering. But, that is hardly the case. People sometimes stutter when they are completely at ease and then they might all of sudden find they are fluent in the exact same situation...with no discernible change in how they felt or how they approached the situation.

Placing the blame onto the stutterer...by saying "you stutter because of the way you think"...unduly burdens the stutterer with guilt he/she should not be carrying. And you certainly wouldn't want to blame a young child in that manner.

Most of us went through years of wrongheaded thinking in our childhood because of some adult influence who continually told you that you wouldn't stutter if you'd only: slow down...think before you talk...calm down...etc.

For my childhood experience, I spent most of my formative years thinking that I was a jittery, shaky, nervous, hyperactive, stuttering moron...because of scoldings like that from wrong-headed, but well-meaning adults.

I believe, based upon my current research, that stuttering is partly genetic and partly chemical. In the brain. I believe that the brain of a stutterer functions differently, based upon scientific findings that show that stutterers often access the right side of the brain when approaching speech...rather than the left, which is what non-stutterers do. I think it's related to dopamine levels...and I believe that if there ever is a cure, it will be through medicine.

Meanwhile, I'll keep reading and researching.