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There is no consensus on the cause, but stuttering is not organic; it is psychosomatic. The mind is where it must be attacked. An estimated 70% of stutterers have no history of stuttering in their families; hence, it does not appear to be genetic or created in a “monkey see, monkey do” cycle. Perhaps the characteristic most common among stutterers is perfectionism. It leads to hesitations, thinking words, fearing words and forcing them, causing repetitions, blocks, and silences. Accepting imperfect speech is one of the early steps to overcoming it.
Our research suggests that 75% of stuttering appears to begin between ages 3 and 7; 20% between 8 and 20; and 5% over age 20.
Parents often innocently trigger stuttering by correcting speech mistakes of young children, making the child self-conscious about his/her speech. Well-intentioned teachers compound and escalate stuttering by forcing incipient stutterers to speak and recite to the class.
In some cases, yes. Early, very mild cases of stuttering will tend to resolve themselves; that is, the stutterer will speak less and finally stop stuttering, but the person may then tend to avoid anything approximating “public speaking”.
In some cases, yes. Stuttering, if ignored, can tend to increase, even to the point of “full blockage”; that is, when the stutterer cannot speak at all. Forcing speech also can lead to extreme grimaces and contortions of the body, all in an effort to force the words out. The more conscious one becomes about his/her speech, the more anxious one becomes, an ever-escalating cycle.
The list is long, but includes such things as:
Roughly 80% male and 20% female.
Yes. There are many. Word repeaters, silent blockers, mini blockers, avoidance, and others. Stutterers tend to create their own names for various forms of it.
In many ways, but generally in fear of speaking in front of groups. The size of the “group” may be hundreds, dozens or just a few. Fear of speaking is the most common manifestation.
Yes. The Lovett Method has enabled many to self-cure (i.e., speech does not appear disabled). See the proofs on our website under “Success Stories”.
PWS must heal themselves. To accomplish this, they must (a) believe that a cure is possible and (b) be diligent in mastering The Lovett Method. (There may be other methods that work; we just don’t know what they are.) There will be some PWS who cannot cure themselves. But in Lee Lovett’s experience, over 90% have cured themselves.
No. When one drinks alcohol, it relaxes the muscles, and the PWS may experience temporary fluency. Once the alcohol has left their system, stuttering returns and often exacerbates the problem.
Take the online course, read the Third Edition of Stuttering & Anxiety Self-Cures, and study and apply The Lovett Method, as you will have then learned.
In addition, watch the coaching sessions in WSSA’s Video Library, read the blogs, and participate in our online SpeechMasters Club, which is designed to help speech-anxiety sufferers.
Yes, stuttering can be treated at any age. The younger the child, the more assistance is required by the parents. The Lovett Method provides training videos that are geared to assist parents in teaching their children.
It depends on the severity of stuttering, the length of time stuttering, the work ethic of the student, and, above all, the student’s belief that a cure is possible. The goals are: Stop stuttering, end the fears of stuttering and learn to love to speak. Stopping stuttering must be done first, and that usually requires one to six months. Fear of stuttering is not stuttering, but it may require much longer to eliminate. If one stays on the program and strives to learn to love to speak, the fears will vanish much sooner.
Just like most things, the more you do of it the faster you will see results. A minimum of one hour per day is recommended. This can be achieved with relative ease by reading aloud everything you normally read silently – books, magazines, emails, newspapers, labels on soup cans, etc. Reading aloud can be quite fun and should be made into a life-long hobby.
Roughly 80% male and 20% female.
Stuttering, long held to be “an incurable disease,” has been proved to be curable by The Lovett Method, which maintains that, to stop stuttering, the stutterer must hear fluency and not hear dysfluency. The Method does this in three ways: (i) a variety of ways to hear fluency, (ii) 13 techniques or “Crutches” that enable one to avoid stutters, and (iii) a daily regimen of mind-training, which ties all of the methods together.
WSSA has included case histories on its website. As of 2022, there were almost 200 “Stopped Stuttering Stories” posted on our website, many with supporting videos. Also, see the Amazon book reviews of Lee’s Stuttering books.
Traditional therapies, as offered by most clinics and therapy programs, begin at $2,000 and can exceed $10,000. The courses and materials produced from The Lovett Method are offered at a fraction of these costs.
We define cure as speech that does not appear to be disabled. The fear of stuttering will continue for some time, post cure, but will die in time.
Coach Lovett reports less than 10% have relapsed and virtually all of those have regained fluency in short order.
Not if you have mastered the Crutches. You will still fear stuttering for some time. During that time, you should stay on the program, doing what is suggested and expand your speech-comfort-zones until you love to speak in all situations. Eventually, you will literally forget to stutter and, in time, forget about stuttering and stop thinking about your speech. Occasional “threats” may pop up now and again, but they are easily handled with the Crutches.
It is highly recommended. Most of our PWSS continue with daily AS treatments to counter non-speech-negative thoughts, and to improve upon many other aspects of their lives.
Yes.
Estimated at less than 10%.
Yes, but you must be certified as a PWSS (person who stopped stuttering) from WSSA and have completed its Coaching Course.
When we have a broken leg, we use crutches to allow our leg time to heal. Similarly, our Crutches allow us to avoid experiencing stutters, while we train our minds to expect and experience fluency. We, thus, add fluency memories while avoiding adding dysfluencies, as we train our minds to expect and produce fluency.
There are 12 Crutches and one bonus Crutch (“No Crutch at All”), which are defined at length in the Stuttering course.
Yes. You should be able to recall all crutches easily so they can be used as helpful tools for any situation.
Mastering the Crutches is paramount to working your way through pressure situations. The Crutches then become habitual and will be used without even realizing it.
No. Crutches are intended to be used as tools to assist you in the early stages while you are extremely vulnerable to continued stuttering. Some of the Crutches will help anyone become a better speaker, as they improve diction.
It is the ability of the brain to remap or rewire itself and change in dramatic ways. We can accept or reject any thought and we can dictate our thoughts.
ASTs, in the simplest terms, are a way of talking to ourselves. They are based on Neuroplasticity and are used to address your conscious mind to solve your speech issues and infinitely more. ASTs help the PWS to revamp their negative memory bank with positive affirmations.
We recommend that you do at least two, 20-minute Auto Suggestions Treatments (ASTs) a day (once before sleep and once on arising). Do them in a comfortable chair. The keys are relaxation, visual imagery and repetition of Suggestions.
Self-Hypnosis is similar to Auto-Suggestion in that it is a form of meditation, however, it deals with the subconscious mind. The PWS can learn to hypnotize himself/herself and make those same suggestions (when doing ASTs) to the subconscious mind, and thus expand the power of mental imagery many times.
These would be performed in lieu of, or in addition to, your ASTs.
Mastering the Crutches and practicing them when not under pressure (e.g., when in your “fluent spaces”), reading aloud, daily AS and/or SH treatments.
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Traditional speech therapists typically charge $200 or more per hour, and many therapy programs, classes, clinics, and the like begin at $2,000 and may run to $10,000 or more. We created WSSA to make The Lovett Method available to everyone across the globe that suffers from stuttering or other speech anxieties at prices far below that of other, more traditional therapies.
However, WSSA incurs high costs in creating, marketing, and operating these programs. Additionally, when people don’t have a vested interest, they don’t do the homework without commitment and won’t get results. With hard work, you will get great results!
Finally, a significant percentage of our profits are used to help speech-anxiety-related educational organizations, such as speechanxietyanonymous.org. So your fees are working, not only in your life but in the lives of others.
To make it convenient, we offer alternatives that give you varied access to our online services, depending on your specific needs. You can change or cancel your subscription at any time with the click of a button. We accept standard credit/debit cards.
The Lovett Method works – we guarantee it. However, we cannot guarantee that you will do the work. We have developed a course from proven methods, but we can’t make you committed. You will get amazing results if you trust the methods and put in the necessary time and effort. Our Stopped Stuttering Stories are proof of PWS that have done and continue to do, exactly this.
Your best “guarantee” is our posted Stopped Stuttering Stories. Study them; watch the videos, and you will be convinced that, if you do as they did, you will stop stuttering and crush any other speech anxieties.
No. You can cancel or change plans at any time.
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