I am so thrilled to be able to write this story.
Despite being a died in the wool stutter as long as I can remember, I was able to conquer my stuttering by reading Lee’s book (First Edition), which I did in 2016. After using his methods for a couple of years, by 2018, I emailed Lee a few times and received some helpful emails from him, but I was able to beat stuttering without any coaching from him. His book and his coaching videos did the trick for me. Lee sent me email updates now and then that were really inspiring.
Then, in 2020, I emailed him again to thank him for his book, again, and he asked me if I was still stutter-free and I said that I was. He asked me to Skype and confirm it. We finally Skyped in January 2021, and he asked me if I would confirm my victory in a Success Story, and I am delighted to do it.
My name is Arbi. I’m 36, and my first language is Armenian. I live in California, where I am doing very well in real estate.
I stuttered as long as I can remember. As a kid, I was ridiculed for it. I won’t bore you with the tears that I shed. I had some therapies for several years which did no good whatsoever. At the end of them, my speech therapists told me, “Your stuttering won’t matter much, because you can get a job in the back of a warehouse, or some such place, where you won’t need to talk to anyone.” This advice made me sick. It was a life sentence of isolation and muteness. I hated it.
I’m an outgoing person. I love people, and I have a lot to say, and I wanted to say it. I was super depressed by my speech therapists’ advice. It was crushing. What could I do?
When I found Lee’s book, I found a new life for myself. It made so much sense, and it gave me instant HOPE. I read aloud until my eyes popped, and I still do. Now, I love to read aloud to my kids. I also watched a ton of Lee’s coaching videos and boy did they ever help. I taught myself to use a bunch of the crutches. Skipping the first letter and modulation were two of my favorites. I also learned to stop talking to avoid “public wrestling matches with words” as Lee puts it.
I have not appeared speech disabled for about four years now, and I truly LOVE TO SPEAK. Imagine that! If you don’t believe that I’m fluent, check my success video, the only session that I ever had with Lee: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kkpelc1vqp8.
I love the fact that Lee’s students formed WSSA, “the world’s ONLY community of EX-stutterers” (how great is that) and that WSSA is providing all of Lee’s speech anxiety related books and video lessons and over 1,000 of Lee’s coaching videos, a speech club, and more, all for the cost of ONE hour of most speech therapist’s time! That’s an incredible value. This is so great for PWS.
I just joined WSSA myself. I don’t need it for my speech, but I want to be part of a “community of EX-stutterers”, and I want to support WSSA, because it is the world’s best chance of “kicking stuttering off the planet”, which is Lee’s goal, a goal that I have adopted. I want to give back too. By joining WSSA and staying a member, I intend to help WSSA all I can, including attending SAM Meetings (although awfully early for me at 7A), commenting in WSSA’s forums etc.
I love that Lee is still coaching PWS for free every day, seven days a week and that he’s training some of ex-stuttering students to coach for WSSA. What a great idea, and long overdue. Maybe I’ll even coach PWS someday.
As somebody who stuttered badly and beat it four years ago, I am so grateful to Lee for his book and what he does, and I want to support him and now WSSA (the community of ex-stutterers) in any way that I can.
My bottom line is simple: You no longer need to stutter. There’s an entire community now of people who STOPPED stuttering (PWSS). You can be one of them. SO, get over it and get to work. Join all of us-ex-stutterers at WSSA.
ARBI, California, January 2021
