Michael From Ireland

[Michael Hutchings]

Hello everyone

My name is Michael and I come from Ireland. I have been stuttering from a very young age, severely and I would say that I am still in the range of moderate/severe although I have had some great speaking experience in the last few years. I think the main issue is a lack of belief and a lack of constant use of the crutches, I am not using them constantly and I am still having blocks. and lots of anxiety and fear Although I in recent times have been trying to implement both the AST’s, reading out loud and practising my crutches as much as I can as outlined in the course and I am looking forward to having a consistent routine for these.

Regarding the AST’s – Do you visualise yourself in first or third person? Say I am visualising myself on a video call on the phone, is it better to have a mental image of looking at it from another angle such as a third person view of me talking fluently to the phone or the image that the phone is directly in front of me as I am repeating my autosuggestions? Not sure how to explain it well lol!

I did join the weekly meeting group there last Saturday and it was really motivating and inspiring how well everyone was speaking, and a big shout out to Jay for how well he spoke as well!

I did sign up to the course and become a Stuttering member in September but I didn’t finish the book until Mid December time. I did send an email about coaching but I did not hear back. Is the 3 free coaching sessions still available with this membership and how would I go about requesting them?

Looking forward to meeting everyone and becoming more involved as I progress further with the course and my own speech!

[Javier]

Hi Michael,
first of all, wecome to World Stop Stuttering Association!! My name is Javier, I’m a PWSS and one of the Certified Speech Coaches here.

About your questions about ASTs: the more detailed and vivid these visualizations are, the better they’ll work for you. By this I mean, try to feel like you’d like to feel in those situations (in a video call, as you mentioned, for example). Try to visualize yourself in difficult or stressful speaking situations (personally, I do it in 3rd person, but at the same time trying to feel as if I was doing that video call; I don’t know if this makes sense to you), speaking in a relaxed, confident way, even enjoying yourself.
But don’t forget that the most important thing about ASTs is REPETITION. The most repeated thought becomes your dominant thought. Your dominant thought will become your reality.

Just like you said at the beginning of your post, you must be more consistent, and try to use the Crutches every time you’re going to say somehting. This is the only way you can acquire the habit of speaking using the Crutches, and therefore not planning/fearing words. And of course, you must also do the ASTs (and/or SHTs) and read aloud every day. This will expedite your self-cure.

Finally, about what you said about the 3 free coaching sessions, I’m sorry to hear that you still haven’t received a reply. I’m going to inform my team, and they will get back to you shortly.

I hope to see you again this Saturday at the SAM meeting!!!

[Javier]

Hello Michael,
I’ve already sent you an email regarding the requested 3 free coaching sessions 🙂

[Michael Hutchings]

Thank you Javier! Looking forward to speaking to you soon!

[Anonymous]

Hi Michael,

I did not do any visualisation with my ASTs. I did them while I was driving to and from work everyday. It is of course better to visualise yourself, but I would like you to concentrate more on the quantity of AST sessions. The more you do, the better.

Sometimes, I would visualise myself speaking fluently in front of a room of people. This always made me feel a little more pressure than when I normally did my ASTs, and it definitely challenged me more.

Let us know how your mind training is going and watch the new Crutch mastery series that has just been released. See you at the SAM meeting on Saturday!

[Michael Hutchings]

Thanks Leah. Yes I agree quantity in number is the most important thing!

The Crutch mastery series looks amazing! I have been wanting to learn and understand the crutches better so this is great and will significantly help my speech!

[Author]

Posts