Thoughts on Successful Fluency

By Garrett

Hello, my name is Garrett and I have just celebrated my eighteenth birthday. I was born in Merced, California and now reside with my family in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Along with reading, I also enjoying running, being with my family, and I am a diehard NASCAR fan.

Because the help I sought in becoming fluent is proving successful, my therapist thought perhaps others could benefit from reading about my experience and encouraged me to answer the following questions for the reader of this article.

What did I think about myself before beginning therapy?

Before I started therapy a year ago, I did not really think of myself as a stutterer, per se. I knew that there were instances where I really could not get sounds out, but other than that, I really just thought of myself as having no problems at all. My circle of friends, from the age of 11 when my stuttering began, never drew attention to my disfluency. Because I was unaware of my own stuttering and was not exposed to it through other people, I knew very little or nothing about this problem. Through my therapy, I have learned much.

What strategy has worked the best?

The one that has probably helped me the most is taking a deep breath from the diaphragm before speaking. It has especially helped with words that begin with “wh”, “y”, “h”, etc. Along with that, it has assisted me in slowing down my speech and making it more even.

Easy contact and easy onset, along with the one above, have most likely helped me as well. If I get nervous, I tend to press harder with my lips and tongue. So, with the easy onset and contact, I am able to “get the sounds out” during occasional stressful moments.

What advice would I give to others?

I would most likely just explain some of the misconceptions of stuttering and present the latest scientific findings.

These are only a few of the concepts and strategies I’ve learned since starting therapy, and I will continue to use and practice them well into the future. Though I have provided only brief explanations, I hope they will help and encourage any who might be reading this. I offer these four words in closing: “Keep working at it.”

Garrett is a fluency client of Maureen Eaton, M.A., CCC-SLP.

CELEBRITY FOCUS

Ken Venturi

As much of the nation watches the U.S. Open Golf Championship, it is impossible not to think about our late friend Ken Venturi. Ken overcame many challenges to win the Open at Congressional in 1964 and go on to become the voice of golf for more than three decades.

However, Ken faced no bigger obstacle than stuttering. Ken Venturi was a champion to those who stutter, going out of his way to share his personal experience when consulted by a colleague, friend, or child who stutters.

Frank Wolf

This Virginian congressman has served in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1981. The longtime supporter of the Stuttering Foundation drew national attention to childhood stuttering in 2006 when he submitted an article about Tiger Woods from the SFA newsletter to the Congressional Record. The congressman is featured in the Stuttering Foundation's Famous People Who Stutter brochure.

Bruce Willis

While the world knows Bruce Willis as an A-list actor, few know that he struggled with stuttering throughout his first 20 years.

Walter Bruce Willis was born in 1955 in West Germany to his German mother, Marlene, and his American GI father, David Willis. The family settled in David’s hometown of Penns Grove, New Jersey in 1957, and the couple has three other children.

Carly Simon

Carly Simon began stuttering severely when she was eight years old.

Bill Walton

From BillWalton.com

Thank you for your interest in my life long problem with my speech and communication skills. I was a very shy and reserved young man who could not speak at all without severely stuttering until I was 28 years old. Always a success in the classroom and on the basketball court, I took refuge in the things that I did well as a youngster. A straight A student, my athletic abilities covered the deficiencies that limited my overall growth and development. The game of basketball was my religion, the gym my church. It was a convenient way of avoiding my responsibilities of developing my human relation skills.

When I was 28, a chance encounter at a social event with Hall of Fame broadcaster Marty Glickman completely changed my life in so many ways that things have never been the same since, nor have they ever been better. That day, in a very brief, private conversation (one way, mind you, since I literally could not speak at the time) Marty explained, patiently and concisely, that talking, communicating was a skill not a gift or a birthright and that like any skill, whether it be sports, music, business or whatever, needed to be developed over a lifetime of hard work, discipline, organization and practice. Marty gave me some simple tips that day and then encouraged me to take those keys and apply them to methods of learning that I had received from the special teachers that I had come across in my life, particularly the 6 Hall of Fame basketball coaches that I had played for throughout my career. The beginning of my whole new life was as simple as that. No gimmicks, tricks or shortcuts. Just the realization that with some help, guidance and a lot of hard work that I too could do what seemed so easy, simple and natural to everyone else, yet seemed impossibly out of my reach and comprehension.