Hi Sree,
I disagree with you. Practicing alone does help. It’s like the training a proffesional basketball player does. The proffessional NBA player, does train every day, even alone, so that he makes sure he will be able to do it too when playing against other teams.
This is not the only way to practice with the Crutches. Another excellent way to master the Crutches is to use them too WHEN NOT NEEDED in low pressured situations. Let’s say that in your case a low pressured situation is talking to your partner, or your family, for example. Well, use these speaking situations to practice! Use the Crutches here and there, randomly, on some of your words. You will see how well you can speak if you use Crutches 7-12 as your speaking style (Crutches 8-modulation, 9 and 10 are my personal favourites). Use them as much as possible. And then use Crutches 1-6 on random words. So, start some of your sentences with a sound (C-4), drop the first letter of some of your words, etc.
The more you do it, the easier it will get, EVEN IN HIGH PRESSURED SITUATIONS.
But definitely the best approach for high pressured situations is what we call the “Emergency Speech Plan” (read Section 18.8 of “How To Stop Stuttering & Love Speaking” to know more).
I hope you find this helpful, Sree.
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