Problem with speech but not sure what? Please read

Ramza

Hi, I am a 21 year old male, and I am pretty damn sure I suffer from some form of speech disorder. Here is my background

At a young age, around 8 or so, I had speech therapy, for a slight stutter I seemed to have. My two brothers also attended, and it was only minor in their cases. After this therapy I can't really say mine improved (there's did, extremely minor and not even noticable!). But for me, it stayed, until today I still have this "problem". I have read the stickies and I don't know which problem I pertain to, so if I describe it I hope this helps

Basically....I talk extremely fast. Faster than the average person. And when I do, I end up getting caught up on syllables and words, bits of the sentence will come out and even at that, the parts that are audible are spoken so quickly it just sounds like gibberish. I can't say some words, and I can't say some words in conjunction. Most words basically If I try and slow down my words, I still find some words so hard to say if not impossible to say without slowing down my speech to slow motion, which is completely pointless and impractical of course! Also, outside of sentences, opening up a sentence is hard, some words I can't say without trouble, examples are usually words beginning with "wh' so, what, why, when etc. Lots of other words too, I find it so hard to say them, the word gets stuck in my throat and I stutter badly, even if I DO get the word, I have the rest of the sentence to worry about The only time I can speak 100% clear is if I just speak like I said, in slow motion, which indicates to me I have a problem

To me I thought it was cluttering, but I looked at examples of cluttering and I guess my problem is cluttering, but not to the extent I seen when I researched it. One example recently, of my problem, is when I went to say "hey, watch this" to a friend, and this is how I sound/feel when the time for speech comes ; the initial "hey" is quite hard, and once I get it out, the "watch' and "this" sound like gibberish. I for some reason can't say "hey watch" fluently, I dunno if its because I just stutter both words or cause I clutter? "Hey, watch this" ends up sounding like "Haywashis" or something I can't get some of my syllables, I'm sick of not being able to have proper diction and fluency!! It's annoying me, hate hearing people speak and thinking "why can't I sound clear? Is there something wrong with me?"

I've told my dad but he just tells me I need to slow down. It's not that simple, I wish it was, I've tried all my life to slow down but it's not my fault, I don't know what's wrong with me and it's mortifying. I have to think in my head in shops what I am going to say, I think it over in the queue over and over and I get worked up, then when I have to actually speak I end up stuttering or sounding completely inaudible, so embarrassing. I've had to ask people to buy stuff for me in shops etc like friends, and they always ask "why can't you do it yourself?", to which I have no reply, I always find some excuse so I wont have to embarrass myself

It's also embarrassing socially, I can't say some words, people ask me a question and I feel like I'm being put on the spot, cause I get all flustered and nervous and anxious cause I know I can't speak properly, I've had people laugh and say stuff, along the lines of "you speak so quickly!" or when people say "I didn't understand a word you just said" and laugh, I wanna cry Just sick of opening my mouth and not being able to say a sentence without jumbling all my words and syllables together

Thank you for reading this if you have, I want to get help with my problem and would love some help or information if you can give me any or point me in the right direction Will I be able to overcome this and speak normally one day?

Equality

I worked with a girl who talked extremely fast. Her speech was great, and everyone could understand her.

The thing is that conversation is a two way process. No one could talk to her, she never gave you any space to answer, so you just listened and smiled and nodded and smiled...

If you wanted to actually tell her something you sent her an e-mail.

She is a lovely girl, but difficult to engage with in terms of a conversation. Perfect speech, just too fast and never shut up to allow anyone else to talk.

Do you have conversations with people? Or do they just listen to you?

In a lot of cases, you should say very little and just let the other person talk. That is one way to deal with a speech difficulty - let others do most of the talking.

Esel

Ramza wrote: »

Basically....I talk extremely fast...

If I try and slow down my words, I still find some words so hard to say...

The only time I can speak 100% clear is if I just speak like I said, in slow motion...

I've tried all my life to slow down but it's not my fault...Will I be able to overcome this and speak normally one day?

It seems to me that your rapid speech is a mechanism you have developed in an attempt to overcome your stutter.

You say that you can speak clearly (100% - hardly likely - no-one is 100% fluent! ) when you speak slowly. It may feel like slow-motion speaking to you, as you have become so accustomed to speaking very rapidly. Maybe ask a good friend their opinion of how 'slow' you sound when you speak slowly. You might be pleasantly surprised by their response!

You will find it very hard to change your ingrained habit of speaking rapidly, but it is something you really should address.

Accepting that you may stutter will help you relax. I know this is easy to say, but it is the truth.

Check out some of the programs that are available for stutterers too. I'm not saying you need to enrol in one, but knowing that you can if you want to won't hurt.

If you are close to a university (or even of not so close - it might be worth travelling to one) it may have a Speech Therapy department which could help you.

But really, you should re-appraise your 'slow-motion' speech.

When you say "it's not my fault", that is true, but in the final analysis the solution is under your control.

Lastly, you will be able to speak normally!

You may still have blocks/hesitations on certain words, sometimes more so than others, like when you are tired, stressed, intoxicated (although a lot of stutterers are more fluent when drunk, whereas normally fluent people can stutter when drunk), but so what?

The vast majority of people will not have any problem if you do block/stutter, and those who appear to have a problem are probably just embarrassed and unsure how to react. It's not about you, it's about them!

sadie9

Why don't you go and see a speech therapist about this? They will know exactly what it is, will provide you with support and give you options towards helping with it. Either ring or write to your local HSE health centre Speech Therapy dept, or you could go private if you can afford it. A private appt will cost around 80 euros per hour (some is claimable back from private health insurers). There is a list of speech and language therapists in private practice on the web.
There could be a waiting list for the public speech therapy depending on the area you live in.