Everyone should learn how to help those of us who stutter. A great book by The Stuttering Foundation is Sometimes I Just Stutter. Here is a short section from that book:
Nobody likes to stutter. When you stutter, some words are hard to say. Sometimes it feels like your throat is locked, and you can't get on with what you wanted to say. Or you repeat the first part of a word several times.
When you try really hard to go on talking, you may push through; but more often trying hard just makes things worse. You feel tension in your stomach, and you have to do all kinds of weird things with your mouth or with your whole face to go on talking. Other people can hear that you stutter, and they don't know what to think of it. Often they will try to help you, and sometimes that will be OK. But often it will only make things worse.
People who do not stutter usually find stuttering very hard to understand. They want to help, but they have no idea what they should do. You can see it in their faces--they look puzzled and a bit nervous. When people get nervous they sometimes do dumb things. It's not your fault. It's because they know too little about stuttering. So you should share this book with them. Because when they understand a bit more about stuttering, they will stop getting nervous. And then it is you who will have helped them!
© Copyright 1999 by Stuttering Foundation of America
1 comment:
I wish people who are fluent would be informed of how they can help us. It would be so much easier. I am grateful for the literature that the Foundation puts out as I have taken it to teachers and employers. It is a good way to help them understand stuttering; it helps open the doors to talking about my speech; it helps them accept me as I am; then, I don't stutter as much. Keep on telling people about the Stuttering Foundation of America, Bud!
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