Stuttering: Is it common to try to find different words when blocking?

Blog background

I have been deeply involved in sharing my understanding with fellow stutterers, speech and language pathologists and researchers, especially in the 90's. The older part of this blog reports some the discussions I was having on a professional list at that time. Most of the discussions are still relevant today.

I remained involved in the stuttering community, mostly as participant in activities of the National Stuttering Association (NSA), and occasional workshop leader. Since my retirement I have returned to writing, and I just developed an audio course on fluency improvement. A link for the course can be found in this blog, as well as posts based on more recent discussions I am having in a Stuttering Facebook group.

Saturday, February 06, 2021

Is it common to try to find different words when blocking?

Yes, that's very common.... and the essence of what is for some "covert stuttering". My advice is not to give in to the temptation to find new words. It can become an agonizing mental gymnastics ... I would recommend to get specific guidance form a specialized SLP. One technique I find very helpful is voluntary stuttering. Allow yourself to stutter on those words by actually "imitating" the way you would normally stutter, only YOU are making it happen instead of letting it happen to you... It often turns into "effortless stutter" that allows for good communication.

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Biography

Dr. Colombano is a retired NASA scientist with a Ph.D. in Biophysical Sciences. He struggled with stuttering in his youth and during most of his career, and he worked on understanding and dealing with the problem, ultimately reaching a level of fluency that is viewed as completely "normal". He is not a SLP (Speech Language Pathologist), and does not claim to be one, but most SLP's do not specialize in Stuttering Therapy and there are aspects of stuttering that are addressed more by "Coaching" than "Therapy". These are the aspects he covers and which are complementary to Stuttering Therapy. He has been a member of the National Stuttering Association (NSA), has given talks at their conferences and has been chapter leader in one of their self-help groups in San Francisco. He received year-long training at the Interchange Counseling Institute in San Francisco, and his coaching modality for stutterers has been based on the content of this course.