[Q] Is stuttering a feedback problem?

[paigetheoracle]

If stuttering is a feedback problem, could could it be cured by feeding back the sound of your own voice? (I noticed a kind of echolalia in me in that I sometimes repeat the same word over twice without realizing it ('I thought thought that too'), especially if tired or depressed, and wondered if this was what was happening).

[lemit]

NLM and ASHA both suggest there may be a genetic component, since stuttering runs in families, but don't have much to offer beyond that.

 

My best friend and I have been discussing various conditions like Autism, Tourette's, and ADD. Ww have developed a theory that there is probably sensory overload in an underlying condition of accelerated sensitivity.

 

I know I stuttered and had nervous ticks as a child partly because I was extremely sensitive and could not process internal information and external information at the same time. Also, I stuttered because I could read in the faces of people I was talking to a prejudgement and predetermination that whatever I was going to say would be wrong. I still have trouble with that one.

 

Here are some links. The third, from NIDCD, seems to me to be the most promising.

 

MedlinePlus: Stuttering

Stuttering, ASHA

Stuttering, NIDCD

 

I would guess there might be some other introverted, hypersensitive, former stutterers who find writing on the internet easier than talking face-to-face with people. Anybody?

 

--lemit

[paigetheoracle]

My best friend and I have been discussing various conditions like Autism, Tourette's, and ADD. Ww have developed a theory that there is probably sensory overload in an underlying condition of accelerated sensitivity.

 

I stuttered because I could read in the faces of people I was talking to a prejudgement and predetermination that whatever I was going to say would be wrong. I still have trouble with that one.

 

I would guess there might be some other introverted, hypersensitive, former stutterers who find writing on the internet easier than talking face-to-face with people. Anybody?

 

--lemit

 

Firstly, talk to the hand - it's up for the last section.

 

Secondly, yes hypersensitivity explains my migraines: I get overloaded, explode, get headache and restart the cycle.

 

As for the middle point, sounds like a little bit of paranoia - talk to the hand again as it's up. I use to be known as the grinning idiot because I rarely said anything, just smiled and occasionally told corny jokes. Me Aspergers? You bet!

[lemit]

Sorry to hear you have migraines, Paige. How do you cope with them?

 

Yes, Aspergers is one of the things we used to talk about all the time, trying to decide if one or both of us (and our relatives) might have it. Your mentioning it was a surprise, since we hadn't talked about it for a long time and I had kind of forgotten it.

 

Thanks for the reminder, and good luck with the migraines. Although I have never had them, I have seen many lives devastated by them.

 

Again, good luck.

 

--lemit

[paigetheoracle]

Sorry to hear you have migraines, Paige. How do you cope with them?

 

Yes, Aspergers is one of the things we used to talk about all the time, trying to decide if one or both of us (and our relatives) might have it. Your mentioning it was a surprise, since we hadn't talked about it for a long time and I had kind of forgotten it.

 

Thanks for the reminder, and good luck with the migraines. Although I have never had them, I have seen many lives devastated by them.

 

Again, good luck.

 

--lemit

 

Glad to hear you're sorry for my condition - please send all checks to 'Save the man with the headache, at......':lol:

[pamela]

i dunno, Paigey, i always thought that the dysfluency originated in the thought center of the brain, where excitability would interfere with the muscular response and delay smooth speech.With my son, it was like his brain was running at a faster rate than speech could keep up with. If he was calm, with a normal breathing rate, his speech clear with no stuttering. However in extreme agitation, single words were impossible for him to speak, which caused much frustration.I find it curious that you are repeating whole words and not just its parts. Do you exhibit any other forms of dysfluency?

[paigetheoracle]

i dunno, Paigey, i always thought that the dysfluency originated in the thought center of the brain, where excitability would interfere with the muscular response and delay smooth speech.With my son, it was like his brain was running at a faster rate than speech could keep up with. If he was calm, with a normal breathing rate, his speech clear with no stuttering. However in extreme agitation, single words were impossible for him to speak, which caused much frustration.I find it curious that you are repeating whole words and not just its parts. Do you exhibit any other forms of dysfluency?

 

I sometimes stumble and find it difficult to connect words as does a girl I teach, who's autistic. I also notice that if I get tired that sometimes if I try to write things, I think I've written something and I haven't as a word that I thought had got down on paper, stayed firmly in my head. Yes, running before you can talk, causes no end of problems for me too.

Thinking about it, I also have an occasional effect where I get buzzing in my left ear and I can hear my voice in an odd kind of echoey way in that orifice.

[pamela]

sometimes stumble and find it difficult to connect words as does a girl I teach, who's autistic.

are you excited when this happens? or maybe a little unsure of your thought and the potential reaction from the hearer?

 

I also notice that if I get tired that sometimes if I try to write things, I think I've written something and I haven't as a word that I thought had got down on paper, stayed firmly in my head.

this made me think of something that i have noticed when i type. I have stuttered words on the type but not in my my head and thought how strange when i proofed it.:)

 

 

Yes, running before you can talk, causes no end of problems for me too.

Yeah, sometimes it's difficult to slow down and breathe and formulate your thoughts and words, especially when the hearer is staring at you and waiting. Do you have any difficulty on the phone?

 

Thinking about it, I also have an occasional effect where I get buzzing in my left ear and I can hear my voice in an odd kind of echoey way in that orifice.

sounds like tinnitis, but this reminds me of a device that i read about years ago that was placed in the ear. This device actually stopped the dysfluency once it was placed in your ear. Sounds like i need to do some digging on this one, my memory as to how it worked has evaded me. I am curious about the connection, so i will post back with the information

[pamela]

okay paigey, i found it and looks like you may be on the mark with the feedback and echo

 

What is altered auditory feedback?

Altered auditory feedback (AAF) simply means hearing your own voice in a manner that is slightly different from the way you normally hear it. It allows the user to listen to his or her own voice with Delayed Auditory Feedback (DAF), Frequency Altered Feedback (FAF), or a combination of the two. Using DAF allows the user to hear his or her own voice with a slight temporal delay, similar to an echo. FAF allows the user to hear his or her own voice with a shift in the pitch, so the signal heard is either at a slightly higher or slightly lower pitch than the person's own voice.

 

How do DAF and FAF help people who stutter become more fluent?

For years, it has been known that when people who stutter speak the same material in unison with another speaker, they become fluent. This is known as 'Choral Speech'. By allowing the user to hear his or her own voice with a pitch shift, a slight time delay or a combination of both, creates the illusion of another speaker speaking at the same time. It is an emulation of choral speech.

 

i opted not to post the link as it is promoting a product, however if you need the link just PM me:)

[paigetheoracle]

are you excited when this happens? or maybe a little unsure of your thought and the potential reaction from the hearer?

 

Sometimes (both).

 

this made me think of something that i have noticed when i type. I have stuttered words on the type but not in my my head and thought how strange when i proofed it.:)

 

 

Yeah, sometimes it's difficult to slow down and breathe and formulate your thoughts and words, especially when the hearer is staring at you and waiting. Do you have any difficulty on the phone?

 

I hate the phone and find emailing or writing to people easier.

 

 

sounds like tinnitis, but this reminds me of a device that i read about years ago that was placed in the ear. This device actually stopped the dysfluency once it was placed in your ear. Sounds like i need to do some digging on this one, my memory as to how it worked has evaded me. I am curious about the connection, so i will post back with the information

 

Yes it's unusual to have unilateral tinnitus, the consultant who examined it said.

[paigetheoracle]

okay paigey, i found it and looks like you may be on the mark with the feedback and echo

 

 

 

i opted not to post the link as it is promoting a product, however if you need the link just PM me:)

 

No, that's okay, I don't need the link.

 

By the way I had heard that when stutterers sing that they lose their stutter.