by Curtis George

Created on: June 15, 2008

John, a high school student, had just received his test result and was congratulated by the teacher for his improvement. The teacher asked him, before the whole class, how he had improved. It proceeded by a three-second silence. "I...I...I read the book." John replied simply with mild facial twitching. Most of the students remained silent and respectful. However, there were always a few who liked to imitate and sneer at him. John's face immediately turned red.

Most stutterers can easily relate themselves to the above story, and are more or less desperate in finding a cure for their speech impediment. Brokenhearted, they often fail to find the perfect cure. As a moderate stutterer myself, there are a few basic ways to improve your speech and make life easier by accepting and dealing with your disability.

Accepting and recognizing the fact that you stutter is the first step to embrace improvement. Some stutterers, with most of them being mild, hide their stutters with all their tricks. They would talk less and substitute words that are easier to speak. Life would be miserable if you happen to be one of them. Your heart rate increases when someone is about to find out. And constantly and stressfully you are aware of it. Admit it, embrace it, and learn to live with it. The common saying, "Life is not fair." is indeed manifesting in your life. You will meet a point in life that you have to speak up and you will stutter. It is wiser to admit beforehand prior to others mistakening you a mentally-challenged person.

After you have practiced the first step which is not at all easy, learn these basic ways of speaking techniques. Speak slower. This might sound easier than actually doing it. Pick up a book, flip to a random page and start reading at a slow pace with which you are comfortable with. Prolong the vowels if necessary. Secondly, breathe normally. A lot of stutterers try to speak when they have simply no breath. They worry too much about their stuttering that they even forget there is no air in their lungs. Breath in and out, relaxing your throat and stomach. The sound of air flowing out of your mouth should somewhat help you to relax.

Lastly, learn to not pay attention to others' negative reactions toward your stuttering. This indeed is the hardest of all. Who can ignore when being ridiculed? However, talking with someone who shares the same problem would help. Search for a forum online created for stutterers only, and email them your situations and learn from their ways of dealing with the same problem.

After all have said, one still can not escape from feeling lonely when carrying this cross. Remember, though you will not find cures for it, you will certainly improve if you are determined enough. And the most comforting fact is: YOU ARE NOT ALONE.

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