ചില മാര്‍ഗ്ഗനിര്‍ദ്ദേങ്ങള്‍

വിക്കലനുഭവപ്പെടുന്നവര്‍ക്കുള്ള  ചില മാര്‍ഗ്ഗനിര്‍ദ്ദേങ്ങള്‍  

1) മനപ്പൂര്‍വ്വം വേഗം കുറച്ചു സംസാരിക്കുന്ന  സ്വഭാവം  രൂപികരിക്കുക.  

2) ബലം കൊടുക്കാതെ  മൃദുവായി സംസാരിക്കുക. ഭയമുള്ള വാക്കുളുടെ ആദ്യ സ്വരം നീട്ടി പറയുക .

3) വിക്കല്‍  മറച്ചുവയ്കാന്‍  ശ്രമിക്കരുത് . തുറന്നു വിക്കുക .

4) വിക്കുമ്പോല്‍ ‍, മുഖത്തോ ശരീരത്തിലേവിടെങ്കിലുമോ അസ്വഭാവികമായ ഭാവങ്ങളോ  ചലനങ്ങളോ  വരുന്നുണ്ടോയെന്ന് നിരിക്ഷിച്ച് നീക്കം ചെയ്യുക.

5) ഭയം മൂലം വാക്കുകള്‍ മാറ്റുന്നതും, പകരം വാക്കുകള്‍ ‍ഉപയോഗികുന്നതും  ഒഴിവാക്കുക. 

6) സംസാരിക്കുമ്പോള്‍ ശ്രവിക്കുന്നവരുടെ കണ്ണില്‍  നോക്കി സംസാരിക്കുക.

7) വിക്കുമ്പോള്‍‍‍, സംസാരപേശികള്‍ എന്താണ്‌ തെറ്റായി ചെയ്യുന്നതെന്ന് മനസ്സിലാക്കാന്‍ ശ്രമിക്കുക . 

8) ബ്ലോക്ക്‌  കറക് ഷന്‍  രീതികള്‍  വിനിയോഗം ച്ചെയുക .

 a)  പോസ്റ്റ്‌-ബ്ലോക്ക്‌ കറക് ഷന്‍ 

വിക്കല്‍  വന്ന വാക്കിനു ശേഷം  മൌനം അവലംമ്പിച്ച്‌, എവിടെ തെറ്റ് പറ്റിയെന്ന് മനസ്സിലാക്കുകയും, എങ്ങനെ അത് തിരുത്താമെന്നു ഉദ്യേശിച്ചശേഷം മാത്രം തുടരുക 

b)ഇന്‍-ബ്ലോക്ക്‌ കറക് ഷന്‍

വിക്കല്ലിന്റെ  ഇടയില്‍  , നിര്‍ത്തുകയോ , വീണ്ടും പറയാന്‍   ശ്രമിക്കുകയോ ചെയ്യാതെ , വിക്കുന്നത് പതുക്കെയാക്കി , അത് സുഗഗമായ് നീട്ടിപറയുക.

c) പ്രീ ബ്ലോക്ക്‌ കറക് ഷന്‍  

വിക്കല്‍ വരുമെന്ന് അനുഭവപെട്ടാല്‍ ആ വാക്ക് പറയുനതിനു മുന്‍പ്‌ മൌനം അവലംമ്പിച്ച്‌ ആ വാക്കില്‍ സാധാരണ എങ്ങനെ വിക്കാറുണ്ട് എന്ന് ചിന്തിക്കുക. എങ്ങനെ അത് തിരുത്താം എന്ന്  മനസ്സിലാക്കിയ ശേഷം മാത്രം ആ വാക്ക് പറയുക .

Rewarding Habits for a Person With Stammer/Stutter

As from "self-therapy for the stutterer" by Malcolm Fraser, published by The Stuttering Foundation of America.
(Fluency   Shaping   Strategy)

(1) Make a habit of always talking slowly and deliberately whether you stutter or not.

(2) When you start to talk, do it easily, gently and smoothly without forcing and prolong the first sounds of words you fear.

(3) Stutter openly and do not try to hide the fact that you are a stutterer.

(4) Identify and eliminate any unusual gestures, facial contortions, or body movements which possibly you may exhibit when stuttering or trying to avoid difficulty.

(5) Do your best to stop all avoidance, postponement or substitution habits.

(6) Maintain eye contact with the person to whom you talk.

(7) Analyze and identify what your speech muscles are doing improperly when you stutter.

(8) Take advantage of block correction procedures designed to modify or eliminate your abnormal speech muscle stuttering behavior
    (a)Post-Block Correction(CANCELLATION)
    After you stutter on a word, you are to pause momentarily to allow time for you to think back and figure out what you did which caused the stutter and plan how to correct it.
    (b)In-Block Correction(PULL-OUT)
    When you find yourself in the middle of a block, don’t pause and don’t stop and try again. Instead, continue the stuttering, slowing it down and letting the block run its course, deliberately making a smooth prolongation of what you are doing
    (c)Pre-Block Correction
    When you anticipate stuttering on a word or sound, you are to pause just before saying the word in order to plan how you will attack it. And you do not proceed to speak the word until you have thought about how you usually stutter on the sound and figure out what needs to be done to correct or modify the errors you usually make when stuttering on that sound.

And ending it with a Poem mentioned in the book

K-k-k-katie, beautiful katie
You’re the only g-g-g-girl that I adore
And when the m-moon shines
Over the cowshed
I’ll be waiting by the k-k-k-kitchen door.

Additional Therapy ideas From tisa self-help Manual
(Stuttering   Modification   Strategy)

(1)Bouncing

Stammer as a four year old child does. No fear, no struggle and with total acceptance.That effortless stammering is less tiring to us and less distracting to the listener as well. Lastly, it is a nice way of self exposure- Telling people that we stammer and getting used to their reactions.

eg: M..My na..name e..is Shorn.

After some months’ practice, you should be able to say a word with just one small relaxed unnoticeable bounce.

(2)Voluntary stuttering

Voluntary stuttering involves- not bouncing- but actually reproducing your natural normal stutter at will.Now you have to study your stammer - which you have already done, and reproduce it in all its detail and perfection. Dont exaggerate it,dont make it humorous or funny. Just mimic it.

But why are we doing it? To get rid of the deep seated fear and shame and also to become conscious of all the things which we do.

Some Quotes on Stammering

These are some memorable quotes from  "self-therapy for the stutterer" by Malcolm Fraser, published by The Stuttering Foundation of America.

The stutterer must conquer his own problems. No one else can do it for him.(Van Riper)

Stuttering is an anticipatory struggle reaction. (Bloodstein)

We all have different personalities and our pattern of stuttering is distinct and interwoven in the unique personalities. (Garland)

Stuttering is what you do trying not to stutter again.(Johnson)

The stutterer attempts to force the articulation of his words and speaking now becomes a muscular rather than a mental process. (Bluemel)

Crucial to this point is the fact that struggle and avoidance worsen a problem of stuttering. (Moses)

Accept the fact that you have a serious problem. Stand squarely on both feet, place your shoulders back and begin to earnestly attack your problem. (Barbara)

Assume an assertive posture - physically be committed to moving forward. Use your body language to advantage. (G.F. Johnson)

This view holds that any human problem is, in many important ways, a disorder of thinking. (Manning)

One of my patients was a city official who made a practice of taking whisky before giving his weekly report to the City Council. Soon his alcoholism became a more serious problem than his stammering, and he was hospitalized for this condition. (Bluemel)

A few minutes of meditation and relaxation each day can help the spirit. (G. Johnson)

Once the stutterer has localized the places in the vocal tract where he habitually exerts too much tension, he may practice stuttering with less of it. (Bloodstein)

Although it is a tough row to hoe at first, there is nothing as therapeutic as self-confrontation. (Rainey)

At some point in the therapy process the stutterer must become desensitized to his stuttering. (Kamhi)

Stuttering is a tough opponent. It never gives up. You’ve got to keep knocking it down to stay in command. (Starbuck)

A valuable precondition for successful therapy is the deep inner conviction of the stutterer in the creditability of his disorder—combined with a fighting spirit and a readiness to undergo hardships and deprivations. (Freund)

Men who have achieved in this world have been guided by inspiration, by vision, by faith in themselves and by faith in the unknown. (Wedberg)

To talk or not to.

As a Person with Stammer ( P w S) , there is always a moment of hesitation before i talk something . The hesitation is about "Would i be able to deliver it without a block?". I recognize that most time i encounter this block only because there was an hesitation regarding my stammer in the first place.

Its like a catch 22 situation. I happen to stammer, so i hesitate. I hesitate, so I stammer. Anyways, i hope i can surely get out of this situation, in the long run, by working hard in areas related to my hesitation and fear of stammering.

The key thing i need to do is to face and face again those feared situations and transcend those hesitations and blocks.

To end the post,as someone said, its not the destination,but the journey that matters more

In Queues and Shop

The Psychological aspects of being a P w S is best evident when i stand in queues for taking a ticket or when  in a shop or restaurant for ordering things.

Mostly i have the tendency to prepare myself before for a smooth voice delivery and it can often end up with unwanted stress and block.

I myself see a silent humor in this. Making heavy preparations and utterly failing in the moment in which it is required. But in the end of the day, this humor gives a smile on my face and i am happy with it. I can just say to myself "Don't worry. Next time!  Just keep working on the stammer".

To end the post,as someone said, its not the destination,but the journey that matters more.

But there is indeed this sure shot solid way of facing this. Voluntary stammering or bouncing by looking at the eye. It straightway breaks the needs for a normal voice delivery. It gives the notion that "Stammering is OK". The person is absolutely in control when in voluntary stammering , than in a seemingly pathetic state of  stressful block. And when bouncing by making eye contact, it raises the confidence levels in managing the stammer.

The case with friends

Friends are those with whom, one can always talk.

There can be friends who may speak very fastly and those who speak not that fast.

There can be friends who know about the speech impediment of the Person and those who don't know about it.

Anyways, true friends are those who have understanding power and they will  appreciate when a P w S takes controlling techniques like slow pace of speech, stress less initiation, prolongation, bouncing etc.

A medical form

I was asked this question in an important written medical form.

"Do you have any physical, psychological, communication, developmental or intellectual disabilities which may affect your ability to earn a living or take full care of yourself now or in later life?"

Guess what i answered. "No".. Frankly because i don't want to run into any trouble.

But, factually, i am right. Stuttering is not a communication disorder. Its a fluency problem. I believe Communication and fluency of communication is bit different.

And more importantly, they specifically asked "which may affect your ability to earn a living or take full care of yourself now or in later life".
The answer to it is a big NO. I can manage my stammer and earn a living and take full care of myself now and in later life.

To end the post,as someone said, its not the destination,but the journey that matters more

Stammering - the new buzz in town

Just a cool idea to make any town talk about stammering..and for a livelihood too..

Right to Stammer with Dignity

Anyone born as a human, as the right to live a life with dignity. For a PWS, right to dignity is only fulfilled when s/he has the right to stammer with dignity. Dignity in stammering is one when one can speak eye to eye while in a stammer or while taking controlled speach. Be it to the masses, to a group or one-to-one, stammer in a dignified way, stammer eye to eye.

To end the post,as someone said, its not the destination,but the journey that matters more

Why stress with a Block

Why stress with a block. Blocks are hard for a PWS. Why try to go on with something that is hard. I say to myself, stop trying to go on with a block by trying to somehow force out the word. Just deliberatey take a breath when the block comes, because breathing is what PWS dont do when they block. Try for that word in a stressless way after taking a breath or just bounce or prolong the word in a stressless way after that breath.

To end the post,as someone said, its not the destination,but the journey that matters more