My name is Domenic. I am 20 years old and I live in Pennsylvania. I still remember the day that my speech troubles began. It was the summer going into the 6th grade. I was sitting in my humid room watching tv when something just “clicked” in my head. In my confusion, I stumbled out of my room and began pacing down the stairs. However, when I tried to speak with my mother in the living room below, my words would not come out. My mouth would move to form words, but they would just get stuck in my throat. There was nothing abnormal about that day, no clear cause or reason as to why my life had been flipped upside down, but this day would define all my biggest challenges to come. It would mold me into the person I am today, for better or for worse.
Shortly thereafter, my parents got me involved with a local speech therapist. Her name was Korina, and we worked together for several years. Although I didn’t achieve much progress in our time together, I still look back fondly at the time I spent working with Korina. She showed a genuine interest in helping me, and that trust and bond can go a long way. We worked on basic speech techniques, like “talking slower” and “breathing”, but we would inevitably hit a wall.
After leaving speech therapy, my life would continue, despite my unresolved problem. However, for the most part, my speech did not have a significant effect on my upbringing. I was still able to make plenty of friends, study well in school, and participate and compete in athletics. I have fond memories and not many regrets. However, my speech still haunted me everyday. Fear of public speaking, humiliation, and embarrassment were common feelings throughout that time. Looking back, things may not have been as bad as I thought they were. But enough social isolation can cause your mind to be very pessimistic. Nevertheless, I prevailed and lived through high school.
To fast forward a bit, I would participate in a speech program called HCRI (Hollins Communications Research Institute) in Virginia (which didn’t help as well), briefly join and drop out of college, and work a dead end job for a year following my departure. It was at this time when I made a reddit post about stuttering. A stranger reached out to give me information about a man named Lee Lovett. He told me to read his books and eventually join their website for more resources to stop stuttering. This stranger was Danny from WSSA.
The thing that drew me to Lee Lovett was the fact that he stuttered himself. He understood the problem personally, and was living proof to show that he had beaten it. I quickly purchased Lee Lovett’s Stop Stuttering Short Course. I read it, and after I had digested the material and had a grasp on the concepts I thought it would be a good idea to schedule some training sessions from WSSA. This is how I met Prathusha.Over the course of a few months and several coaching sessions with Prathusha, things in my life began to change. The affirmations I did helped to clear my mind of the negative noise, and focus on only hearing myself fluently. The crutches gave me confidence and assurance to tackle any conversation that can be thrown at me. Pressure situations and feared words are diminishing everyday because of my progress. I thought at first the daily reading aloud and affirmation sessions would be tiring, but their effects on my speech are why I continue to utilize them. I still have much progress to make, and I even still have days where my stutter shows through. But I shake it off, knowing now that I possess the ability to change my future and my speech. All it takes is patience and consistent practice. I am very happy to say that I am excited for the future.
Domenic, Pennsylvania, August 2024
