any relationships between SD and stuttering?

I don’t know much about stuttering but I am thinking that some of the social fear of speaking and worrying about the voice could be affecting our speech. When we walk we don’t think about it, and when we used to talk we didn’t think about it .....It just happened. Now speaking has become a deliberate action.

I wonder if stuttering problems originate in the same place in the brain as SD does? Would techniques used to relieve stuttering help SD?

I would love to have the name and the author of the book. I just have this feeling that my problem is caused by psychological factors and may be some of the tools that stutters use could be helpful to me.

I was the guest speaker and honored artist today at a school assembly with about 400 kids and adults. I had dreaded to go all week from the fear that my voice may sound strangled and break and get caught. I was elated!

I really pumped myself up before going and felt my passion for what I wanted to say and luckily they had an amplification system too and I spoke almost flawlessly.

I am thinking that in other settings, like my work, I have not been heard for so long and have not felt worthy that gradually I have lost my "presence". I probably have fallen into a pattern of anticipation that my voice will not come out and it doesn't.

It is embarassing for me to even admit to myself that my voice may have psychological roots, but it very well could. the feelings of being restrained, held back, tight, and what is the use of saying this? all ......over come me in certain settings. and I find my voice going into the abyss.

But today I was a celeberated artist and I felt like I was glowing and my voice did not betray me.

He details his journey of discovery, starting with a small girl who stutteret. As they rode together to the top of the empire state building, she started speaking normally. Back at the bottom, she stuttered again.

It is a fascinating piece of research. His conclusions are that it is a throwback to a survival mechanism of babies, whose neck is short ant prone to kink, shutting off the air supply. When the vocal cords and other muscles sense a buildup of air, they reflexively open the air passages to prevent suffocation. Since a buildup of air is necessary before speech, when this reflex occurs, it causes a laryngospasm and no sound can come out. People develop different coping methods WHICH BECOME HABITS.

He says the timeline is stress -- laryngospasm -- struggle with speech. He says it is the "getting ready to speak" that needs to be changed, that voice therapy is too late in the chain. He outlines 8 types of stress: baseline stress; situation stress (on the phone, etc); word or sound stress; authority figure stress; the stress of uncertainty; physical stress; external stress (bad news); and speed stress (trying to talk too fast or being pressured by the speed of the other person's conversation to talk rapidly). He tells of one man who moved to a new state, changed his name, his manner of speech, style of clothing, haircut, mode of living, etc. He spoke fluently until one day he met someone in a restaurant from his former life and reverted back to his old method of speech instantly.

The treatment: He says he has an 89% cure rate with airflow technique. This involves letting out a tiny sigh (a bit of air) before each sentence. The flow is passive, never pushed. This keeps the vocal cords open and relaxed prior to speech and the brain does not get the feedback signals to trigger the conditioned reflex. Relapses are caused by: pushing the flow; failure to transition smoothly (pausing slightly before starting to speak); failure of intent (forming your mouth in anticipation of the upcoming sound so the flow is affected by the anticipation; and holding the flow (never hold the flow but keep it in constant movement).

He cautions about speaking fast, and says many people become overconfident after initial success and relapse because they don't pay attention to the technique.

He says that Winston Churchill was a stutterer as a teen and developed the habit of starting each sentence with mmmm.

BTW, I earlier reported that I had no speaking problems in Mexico. Reading this book again helped me make the connection that I was 5,000 feet in altitude there, and only 500 feet at home.

http://www.stuttering.com/book.html

All the latest research suggests that stuttering IS a neurological disorder. The misconception that it is a psychological disorder has caused a lot of pain and misuderstanding. From what I understand, they also believe that stuttering has something to do with basal ganglia--the same with SD.

I also have to say that the whole distinction between neurological and psychological SD or between MTD and SD seems very dubious to me. Just because something is neurological doesn't mean that it won't be affected by stress. I think most people with SD would admit there are sometimes when SD is better than others. For instance, I don't have any spasms when I sing. I don't have spasms when I talk in exaggeratedly nasal voice. But that doesn't mean I don't have SD. I think the real distinction is between those people who have severe SD and those with mild SD. The danger with some of these other distinctions is that people with mild SD end up being told by their doctors that they don't really have SD. We're back to the same old problem--telling people it's all in their head. I can't believe that some of you are willing to accept that kind of off hand diagnosis.

I have been trying this air flow suggestion that has been recommended for stuttering and it is totally helping me.I am not saying stuttering is emotiona. I am just saying the suggestions helped me.

"This involves letting out a tiny sigh (a bit of air) before each sentence. The flow is passive, never pushed. This keeps the vocal cords open and relaxed prior to speech and the brain does not get the feedback signals to trigger the conditioned reflex. Relapses are caused by: pushing the flow; failure to transition smoothly (pausing slightly before starting to speak); failure of intent (forming your mouth in anticipation of the upcoming sound so the flow is affected by the anticipation; and holding the flow (never hold the flow but keep it in
constant movement)."

I am keeping Kristina's thoughts on the subject of compensations in mind. I don't want to compleletly change how I normally speak, but some of these things we have been talking about have been helpful to some of us. And At this juncture in my life, I don't even need to know if it is in my head, body, or spirit, I just wanna talk and feel comfie and relaxed and I's gonna try what ever helps to keep me from using botox or having to do surgery. I am glad those options are availabe as a last ditch effort.

By the way I had been sobpoenaed to give a deposition on a child custody case, that I am emotiomnally close too. I had been feeling so worried that I might look like a fool to people by losing my voice and having the "catch" happen. So I told the attorney that I had laryngitis and I might have to speak very softly. I spent a long time preparing myslef, bath, relaxing, deep breathing, using the voice exercises on the way to the deposition,and my voice once again behaved!! I had a couple of drops in pitch and I stopped and picked it backup. I actually think feeling emotionally charged helped my voice.

But today in the classroom, talking one on one with kids that I am very comfortable with, I don't knwo what happend but I lost that special "setting" where my voice operates and couldn't recover! It is like a radio station and needs to be right on the line or I lose the channel. Another hour later, I did air flow and deep breathing and some of the exercises from "Set your voice free".......and found the channel.

I have heard abot silva Mind control. I'll do a search to find silva techniques.
My problem is jsut so puzzling to me? I keep thinking if it is responding to these things it must be in my mind, and or my body too, like food allergies or something? The supplement have definitly helped.
Did you go to wrokshops? I have also wondered about bio feed back. Has anyone tried it?