Covert Stammering

Covert Stammering

In many ways covert stammering is the most complex and difficult form of stammering to manage. Most often, people with covert stammering only stammer very mildly and they may go for long periods without producing any visible (or audible) stammering symptoms at all. Consequently, it is relatively easy for them to hide the fact that they sometimes stammer—and this is where much of the problem of covert stammering lies. Having succeeded in hiding the fact that they stammer, covert stammerers frequently find that their lives that are then plagued by the fear of being found out, and they often suffer from significant feelings of guilt, shame, and inadequacy.

Although it is completely understandable that we may want to hide the fact that we sometimes stammer, if we have fallen into this trap of allowing our feelings of self-esteem and self-worth to become dependent on how well we can speak, our self-esteem will be damaged every time we get stuck and our fear of stammering is likely to grow out of all proportion.

If you have fallen into this trap, the best way to climb back out, is to study stammering and to learn about it in as much detail as is possible. By getting to know exactly what it is and how and why it happens, you will develop a firm and clear understanding that stammering is nothing to be ashamed of, you will understand that it is not in any way your fault that you stammer, and that, indeed, it is perfectly OK and natural to stammer mildly. Indeed, studies show that mild stammerers are sometimes better communicators than people who don’t stammer. The quickest way to arrive at this understanding is by working your way through the Cognitive Therapy & Mindfulness module and Understanding Stammering module. Having started to work your way through these modules, it is then a good idea to start the Jump module and learn to employ the Jump. Doing so will ensure that, on the occasions when you do get stuck on a sound or word, your stammering doesn’t hold you up for too long and doesn’t prevent you from continuing to move forward and therefore doesn’t elicit negative responses from your listeners.

Generally people with covert stammering do not need to learn or practice Orchestral Speech or any fluency-shaping techniques as most covert stammerers have already learned enough tricks and crutches to enable them to remain fluent if they need to.

In summary, if your stammering is characterized by covert symptoms, we suggest working through the practical modules of the course in this order…

1. Mindfulness & Cognitive Therapy Module & Understanding Stammering Module

2. The Jump

Before starting we suggest that you download the Stammering Checklist. You can access the modules and the checklist directly from the buttons below.

It is a good idea to print the checklist out so you can use it to keep track of what you have covered as you work through the course.

You can work through the course in your own time, moving forward at a rate that is best suited to you. If there are any bits that you find particularly difficult, you can go over them again and again, to ensure you have properly understood them.

If you get stuck, if you can’t understand something, or if you find that one or other of the techniques is not working for you, please do email us to explain what the problem is. It may well be that we have failed to explain something adequately. If so, your feedback will help us to remove any ambiguity or confusion in the text. Whatever the problem, we will do our best to help. Depending on how practical it is (in terms of time and numbers of people requesting help), we may be able to discuss some issues directly with you, over Skype or Zoom. But we cannot guarantee that this will always be possible.

 

<< go back to previous page: Online Course Overview


Stammering with mild overt symptoms

Stammering with mild overt symptoms

If your stammering symptoms are mild, probably you can often say exactly what you want without getting stuck. Nevertheless, there may be certain words, people, or speaking situations that tend to trigger your stammering, and because these words, people, and speaking situations are relatively predictable, you may have developed the habit of avoiding them.

Because most of the time you are able to speak without stammering, as a mild stammerer you probably will not want to employ a technique every time you speak, and it is not necessary to do so. Instead, it will benefit you greatly—and greatly reduce your fear of stammering—if you just learn a technique to get you moving forward again whenever you find that you have got stuck. The technique we teach which will enable you to do this is called the Jump.

The Jump is a block-modification technique, which you can only employ after you get stuck. So, in order to be able to employ the Jump you have to first of all allow yourself to stammer and to get stuck. Then, as soon as you have got stuck, you can employ the Jump to get started again.

In theory, the Jump is the easiest technique of all to employ, because it just involves missing out the sound or word you are stuck on—essentially, you just jump over the sounds you can’t say and carry on with the ones you can say.

In practice, employing the Jump can be a little more difficult than that, because most of us have developed a strong habit of going back and trying over and over again to say the sounds we can’t say until we feel like we’ve said them well enough. So it may take a bit of perseverance to develop the habit of keeping on moving forward regardless. But once you’ve developed that habit of keeping moving forward it can quickly become your normal way of speaking, and it starts to feel completely natural. Indeed, it is not really a “technique” it’s just a normal carefree way of speaking. People who don’t stammer regularly jump over sounds, especially when they are talking quickly, and most of the time their listeners understand them perfectly well. Indeed, most of the time their listeners don’t even notice that they’ve jumped over a sound or two.

Although the Jump works really well in the majority of speaking situations, there will be some times and situation where it doesn’t work well enough. The most common such situation is when you jump over a sound you are stuck on and your listener then fails to understand what you have said. So having learned how to Jump, you will also need to have a back-up method for those times when it doesn’t work. There are lots of back-up methods you can use at such times—the most straightforward involve repeating the problem phrase using the fluency shaping technique that we teach called “Orchestral Speech”.

Alongside learning to employ the Jump and Orchestral Speech, right from the start it will be useful for you to start working your way through the Understanding Stammering module—because the more you understand about stammering the less you will fear it and the more empowered you will be to deal with any difficulties that may arise.

In summary, if your stammering is characterized by mild overt symptoms, we suggest working through the practical modules of the course in this order…

1. The Jump

2. Orchestral Speech

3. Integrating Orchestral Speech and the Jump 

4. Mindfulness & Cognitive Therapy

In addition to (alongside) these 4 modules, we suggest that you also work your way through as much of the Understanding Stammering Module as you can.

Before starting we suggest that you download the Stammering Checklist. You can access the modules and the checklist directly from the buttons below.

It is a good idea to print the checklist out so you can use it to keep track of what you have covered as you work through the course.

You can work through the course in your own time, moving forward at a rate that is best suited to you. If there are any bits that you find particularly difficult, you can go over them again and again, to ensure you have properly understood them.

If you get stuck, if you can’t understand something, or if you find that one or other of the techniques is not working for you, please do email us to explain what the problem is. It may well be that we have failed to explain something adequately. If so, your feedback will help us to remove any ambiguity or confusion in the text. Whatever the problem, we will do our best to help. Depending on how practical it is (in terms of time and numbers of people requesting help), we may be able to discuss some issues directly with you, over Skype or Zoom. But we cannot guarantee that this will always be possible.

 

<< go back to previous page: Online Course Overview


Stammering with severe overt symptoms

Stammering with severe overt symptoms

If your stammering symptoms are severe, you are likely to frequently fail to get your messages across fast enough and clearly enough to successfully communicate what you want to say, and you may frequently elicit negative responses from listeners. Such experiences can be traumatizing, and as a result, you may well also regularly experience debilitating anxiety and stress when you need to speak and where you anticipate that you will stammer.

If your experiences are like this, the highest priority is to reduce the severity of your symptoms to the point where they no longer prevent successful communication and no longer elicit negative listener responses. The easiest and quickest way to reduce the severity of your stammering symptoms is to start by learning to use a “fluency shaping” technique called “Orchestral Speech”

In common with all fluency shaping techniques, if you use it correctly, Orchestral Speech will substantially reduce the frequency with which you block and will substantially reduce your overt secondary symptoms. However, it will not reduce your underlying fear of blocking. Nevertheless, by making your blocks less frequent and by making your secondary symptoms less severe, it can provide you with a valuable window of opportunity during which you can then start to tackle the root causes of your stammering—through developing a better understanding of the disorder.

Orchestral Speech helps greatly with getting the first few phrases out when you first start speaking to someone. It is also excellent for reading aloud, for giving talks and lectures in situations where there is time-pressure and in situations where you already know exactly what you want to say. But because it requires you to focus on maintaining your intended forward flow of speech, it can be harder to employ in conversations where the subject matter is complicated and where you need to choose your words more carefully. So, once you’ve learned to use Orchestral Speech, we recommend you learn a block-modification technique called the Jump for use in such situations.

The Jump provides you with an easy method to get re-started when you find yourself blocking on a sound or word. In comparison to Orchestral Speech, the Jump allows you to take your time. However, it only works well for mild stammering, hence the need to start off with a fluency shaping technique if your stammering is severe.

Alongside learning to employ these two techniques, it will be useful for you right from the start, to begin working your way through the Understanding Stammering module.

In summary, if your stammering is characterized by severe overt symptoms, we suggest working through the practical modules of the course in this order…

  1. Orchestral Speech
  2. The Jump
  3. Integrating Orchestral Speech and the Jump 
  4. Mindfulness & Cognitive Therapy

In addition to (alongside) these 4 modules, we suggest that you also work your way through as much of the Understanding Stammering Module as you can.

Before starting we suggest that you download the Stammering Checklist. You can access the modules and the checklist directly from the buttons below.

It is a good idea to print the checklist out so you can use it to keep track of what you have covered as you work through the course.

You can work through the course in your own time, moving forward at a rate that is best suited to you. If there are any bits that you find particularly difficult, you can go over them again and again, to ensure you have properly understood them.

If you get stuck, if you can’t understand something, or if you find that one or other of the techniques is not working for you, please do email us to explain what the problem is. It may well be that we have failed to explain something adequately. If so, your feedback will help us to remove any ambiguity or confusion in the text. Whatever the problem, we will do our best to help. Depending on how practical it is (in terms of time and numbers of people requesting help), we may be able to discuss some issues directly with you, over Skype or Zoom. But we cannot guarantee that this will always be possible.

 

<< go back to previous page: Online Course Overview


About the Author

About the Author

Dr Paul Brocklehurst – Founder of the SSEP

I started stuttering suddenly when I was 3 years old. Its onset coincided with being hospitalised with a high fever. Mostly, I produced blocks. I also developed the habit of using force to try and push the words out, as well as head-jerks and other sudden movements.


Contact me

Between the age of 5 and 14, I had ongoing speech therapy from a number of different therapists, However, although some of the techniques they taught me helped in the clinic, I found them practically impossible to employ in real-life speaking situations, and the severity of my symptoms continued to increase. At the age of 18, when I first started medical school, my symptoms – which now also included social anxiety – became more severe than ever, ultimately leading me to drop out.

I then moved to Germany, where I eventually joined a Zen group and started a regular practice of mindfulness and meditation. Then gradually, things started to change. The first change was that I developed a robust sense of self-esteem. Then, I started to find myself able to resist the temptation to use force to push through my blocks, and I stopped producing extreme secondary symptoms. Consequently, my stuttering became much less severe.
In the years that followed I returned to England, qualified as a practitioner of acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine, studied diet and nutrition, and founded a wholefood cooperative called “Nothing but Wholefoods” in Peterborough where I lived. Although my stuttering was now mild most of the time, blocks still occurred, and when they did they still sometimes lasted an inordinately long time. So, despite the overall reduction in its severity, my blocks still posed an obstacle to communication, and I was still afraid that I may relapse.

My situation remained much the same until, at the age of 42, I read about a new psycholinguistic theory of stuttering called the “Covert Repair Hypothesis” which posited that the primary symptoms of stuttering occur when people try too hard to avoid making speech errors. This theory impressed me and from that time onwards, I made a conscious effort not to avoid speech errors and to just carry on speaking regardless of the accuracy of what came out. Almost immediately, I found that my blocks became substantially shorter – so short, that they no longer posed a problem, and my fear of stuttering finally started to disappear.

Once I was confident that the fear had finally gone, I returned to university, gained a first-class honours degree in speech therapy (at De Montfort, Leicester), and then moved to the University of Edinburgh where I completed a masters’ degree in psycholinguistics and a PhD in experimental psychology – researching the relationship between speech errors and stuttering.

In 2012, after gaining my PhD, I set up the “Stammering Self-Empowerment Programme”, the aim of which was to develop a new therapeutic approach to stuttering based on a combination of the psycholinguistic theory that I had researched at Edinburgh and the mindfulness practice that had helped me so much. Ever since then, I have been working with people who stutter refining and perfecting this new approach and adapting it to stutterers’ differing needs. The main outcome of this work has been the development of the Stammering Self-Empowerment Programme’s free Online Course for people who stutter. Over the past few years, after much experimentation, this new approach has started to bear fruit, insofar as a proportion of the people who stutter who work their way through online course report that it has brought them significant lasting relief – both from their overt stuttering symptoms as well as from the fears and anxieties that accompany it.


The Mindfulness & Cognitive Therapy Module

The Online Course

The Mindfulness and Cognitive Therapy Module

Traditionally, in the West, therapy for stammering has been considered to belong to the domain of “speech therapy” and has been carried out be speech therapists—who have tended primarily to teach their clients techniques and ways of speaking that increase the ease with which they can get their words out. It has, however, long been known that stammering has a strong cognitive component and that both the severity of stammerers’ symptoms and also the degree to which stammering affects and interferes with their lives are strongly influenced by their beliefs and understandings about the condition—and about themselves. So for example, if a person believes that his stammering is a sign of a weak or inadequate personality, or if he believes his stammering is his fault, then each time he stammers, he is likely to experience feelings of inadequacy, shame and guilt. In contrast, if a person believes that his stammering is caused by an inherited neurological abnormality or by a neurological injury, he may feel angry at his stammer or frustrated by it, but is less likely to feel guilt and shame. On the other hand, if a person believes that stammering has some positive advantages, and that for example, it enhances his ability to communicate with other people, then he will probably feel quite good when he stammers and will not be afraid of it.

In recent years, perhaps spurred on by increasing body of evidence that in older children and adults, speech therapy alone does not generally provide lasting relief from stammering, there has been a general trend for therapists to look for ways of helping their stammering clients’ break free of their unhelpful beliefs about their stammering.

In this module, we explain the basics of two stammering therapy approaches that should help us arrive at more realistic and more helpful understandings and beliefs about our stammering: Mindfulness practice and Cognitive Therapy.

Mindfulness practices can help us gain more control over our focus of attention and can help us to learn how to focus our attention in ways that are more helpful to us.

Cognitive Therapy teaches us how to identify the beliefs that we currently hold and how to test them—to see if they are accurate and beneficial, and how to discard them if they are not. If you stammer, then learning about the nature of stammering is itself a form of cognitive therapy—inasmuch as it can help you arrive at new understandings and beliefs that are more accurate and more helpful than those which you previously held. Thus, working through the contents of our “Understanding Stammering” module itself constitutes a form of cognitive therapy.

Although all people who stammer can benefit greatly from cognitive therapy and from developing a deeper understanding of their stammering, these approaches are absolutely essential for therapy for people whose stammering is covert and for people whose stammering has become associated with negative emotions—and in particular with feelings of shame and guilt.

Similarly, although mindfulness practice is of benefit to everyone who stammers, it is an essential component of therapy for people whose stammering is associated with extreme emotional response and also for people whose stammering is associated with trauma and traumatic stress.

The Mindfulness and Psychotherapy Module


The Jump

The Jump Module

The Online Course

Introduction to The Jump

Our Easy Block Modification Technique

The Jump is a “block modification” technique designed to reduce the severity and the duration of the symptoms that occur during moments of stammering. And as the severity and duration of your physical symptoms reduce, your tendency to block and your fear of blocking should also reduce.

In order to be able to employ the Jump, you need to be willing to ignore any desire that you may have to hide the fact that you stammer, and you need to be able to allow yourself to stammer openly in front of other people.

Unlike traditional block modification techniques, which require a lot of self-control to employ them in real-life situations, and which slow you down quite considerably, the Jump takes very little effort to employ and does not slow you down at all. And compared to traditional block modification techniques, the Jump also sounds and feels more spontaneous and natural. It is therefore much easier to employ in real-life speaking situations.

This module starts with an introductory slide-show (see below) in which we explain the rationale behind the Jump, and provide instructions on how to employ it.

Before continuing on to the practical exercises, we recommend that you first read the following online article which provides a somewhat more detailed account of The Jump… The Jump: A powerful new technique to get out of blocks and overcome fear of stuttering

And then watch this interview in which Sanjog Sandhu speaks of his personal experiences of using the Jump

Personal experiences of using the Jump

Then, when you are ready, work your way through the practical exercises by following the links below…

Learning to use The Jump while reading aloud

How to use the Jump with words beginning with vowels

Using the Jump when reading and speaking to other people.

Make sure to read through these questions and answers about the Jump, on which are discussed issues that have arisen for people trying to employ it.

And finally, if you have already completed the module on Orchestral Speech, we strongly suggest that you now work your way through the module on how to integrate the Jump with Orchestral Speech and other techniques…

Combining the Jump with Orchestral Speech and other techniques 

The Jump Module


Orchestral Speech

Orchestral Speech

The Online Course

Orchestral Speech

Our new Fluency Shaping Technique

Introduction
Fluency shaping techniques are techniques that temporarily suppress the symptoms of stammering. They are particularly useful in situations where it is important not to stammer. When employed properly they result in an immediate substantial reduction in your tendency to block and to stammer.

Although they reduce stammering, most traditional fluency shaping techniques take quite a lot of effort to employ and they sound quite unnatural. Aware of this problem, the Stammering Self-Empowerment Programme has developed a new fluency shaping technique called “Orchestral Speech” which does not sound so unnatural and which one can feel more comfortable employing in real-life speaking situations.

To get a fuller grasp of what Orchestral Speech involves and how it works, listen to the following slideshow

The link below contains a transcript of the slideshow, and also some extra detail…

Orchestral Speech: A technique for when you really need to be fluent

Then, if you would like to give Orchestral Speech a try, start to work your way through the Orchestral Speech practical exercises by following the links at the bottom of this page

Note that the questions and answers page of this module contains answers to some of the more frequent questions that students have asked. There is also an email link on that page, through which you can contact us with any questions.

If you would like to know more about the theory behind Fluency Shaping approaches and Orchestral Speech and how Orchestral Speech was developed, there are some more slideshows on this in the Theoretical module (under the “Speech therapy for Stammering” tab).

Orchestral Speech


Understanding Stammering

The Online Course

Understanding Stammering: The Theoretical Module

Although it is not strictly necessary to work through all of the theory in this module, we do suggest that you try to work through as much as possible, as doing so will help you to understand how and why Orchestral Speech, the Jump, Cognitive Therapy and Mindfulness can help you and will make you better able to solve any problems that may arise while you are putting them into practice. Certainly, if possible, try to complete the first two topics before commencing the modules on Orchestral Speech and The Jump.

Bear in mind that the more you understand about stammering, the more easily you will be able to adapt the various therapy methods to suit your own unique needs. So, getting to grips with the theory is every bit as important as learning the therapy techniques.

This module is a work-in-progress and we will continue to add more material to it, so do re-visit it from time to time to see what is new.

In this module, we describe the following aspects of theory (click on the links below to go to the corresponding pages)…

1. What is stammering?

2. What Causes stammering?

3. The development of secondary symptoms and changes in stammering with age.

4. The cycle of remission and relapse

5. How and why moments of stammering occur: Possible mechanisms behind the production of stammered dysfluencies.

6. How speech therapy may help people who stammer

7. How psychotherapy and mindfulness may help people who stammer

Understanding Stammering: The Theoretical Module


Online Course: Overview

Welcome to the SSEP Free Online Course

This course is for people who stammer who are self-motivated and able to study and learn independently. If you are inquisitive; if you like to work things out for yourself; and if you like to experiment with new ideas, it should suit you well.

How is this Online Course different to other courses?

There are three main differences…

1. Unlike most other courses, this online course is designed to help you to develop a deeper understanding of your stammering (stuttering) and the factors that affect it. Consequently, in addition to teaching some powerful fluency-shaping and block-modification techniques, the course also includes a detailed theoretical module entitled “Understanding Stammering”. This theoretical module is every bit as important as the fluency techniques, and to gain maximum benefit from the course, we strongly suggest that you work through it alongside the various therapy modules.

2. We recognize that, in real life speaking situations, there is often a limited window of opportunity to get our messages across, and a certain speed is necessary in order not to miss the window of opportunity. Consequently, the techniques we teach are designed to help you get your messages across as quickly as possible in order to maximize the chances of successful communication.

3. People who stammer often get overwhelmed in real-life speaking situations and find themselves unable to put the techniques they have been taught into practice. Conscious of this problem, the two techniques we teach require a minimum of effort to employ.

Getting Started

How to work through the online course

You can work through this course in your own time, moving forward at a rate that is best suited to you. If there are any bits that you find particularly difficult, you can go over them again and again, to ensure you have properly understood them. If you need extra help or guidance, you are always welcome to email us.

Step 1

Before starting, watch the video below, which gives a flavour of the SSEP’s approach to stammering self-therapy.

Step 2

Having watched the video, if you wish to continue, please now fill in the introductory questionnaire.

Fill in the introductory questionnaire

We rely upon the data from the questionnaires  you complete to track your progress and to highlight any shortcomings in our materials. They are our only means of continuing to improve the course. So please, do fill in the questionnaires as requested. Even if the course completely fails to work for you and you abandon it half way through, your feedback will still help us to improve it so that other people can benefit.

Step 3

Tailor the SSEP Online Course to your personal needs

Although all people who stammer share some core-experiences in common, there are quite substantial differences in the circumstances in which different people’s stammering begins and in the ways it develops over time. As a result of these individual differences, when it comes to therapy and self-help, our needs also differ quite considerably. In order to address these differing needs as effectively as possible, in this online course we start by describing the three most common manifestations of stammering.

Please read through the three descriptions below and decide which one of them most accurately describes your own personal experience of stammering.

Then, follow the guidance provided for that experience – by clicking on the corresponding button.

You produce visible symptoms of stammering almost every time you try to speak. Anyone who hears you speak knows that you stammer. Because of the stammering you find verbal communication difficult and slow.

Although you stammer regularly, you often manage to say things without producing visible symptoms of stammering. Often you are able to keep going by swapping words around and by using various tricks or crutches. You don’t feel any great need to hide the fact that you stammer, but nevertheless, your stammering symptoms sometimes interfere with your ability to communicate and your lack of control over it undermines your confidence.

You don’t stammer often, but you feel very bad about it. The most important thing for you is to hide your stammer. You don’t want people to know that you stammer. Consequently you go to great lengths to avoid producing overt symptom of stammering—either by avoiding speaking certain words, avoiding speaking to certain people, avoiding speaking in certain situations, or even avoiding speaking all together.

New Book!

The Perfect Stutter

by Dr. Paul H Brocklehurst (founder of the SSEP)

In this book, Paul discusses his own experiences of stammering and how they affected his life. He then goes on to explore what is currently known about the condition, and he describes in detail the research and experimental findings that led to the development of the SSEP online course.

Read more