I am Vaibhav, a 33-year-old Artificial Intelligence researcher from Canada. I have been stuttering since I was 9 years old so it has been nearly most of my life. In recent years, I have stuttered on most words and made facial contortions of sorts. I do not know how it exactly started but I have a theory that a tutor of mine in my early years used to make me conscious of every small mistake that I made. My parents say that earlier I was very carefree, but later I grew out to be a perfectionist and very conscious of my every action, so I believe that may have been the inception. I had a horrible school experience due to my stuttering due to the fact that kids are brutally honest and they do not know when to stop. My stuttering became crippling.
My first therapy was at the age of 13 and it went on for 2 months. I was asked to speak abnormally slow all the time to increase my fluency. It failed miserably as it did not address the core issue and in fact it compounded my problem by making me conscious of not one but two things at once. Rest of my school years were no better. I was somehow able to clear my job interview after I completed my undergrad and went on to work in a company. I managed to avoid giving presentations there as I was not in a client facing role. At this point, I was growing tired of this, so I went for another therapy. This therapy lasted few months. Though I was very comfortable speaking while doing the therapy, but it did not percolate to my real world situations. In other words, it didn’t work.
Later I moved to Canada for my Masters. I came across Lee’s book on Amazon a year ago. I had read many books on stuttering before but none actually had any self cure plan. Reading Lee’s book has been life-altering or rather life-saving for me. Earlier I had difficulty in speaking even in low pressure situations. But, since I am practising Lee’s methods: Crutches, Reading aloud, AST, and SH, I am finding speaking easier and easier each passing day. Not only am I able to speak normally without any issues, I am also giving demos and explaining things to groups of people without any hiccups. It has been over a month since I had a speech incident where I appeared to have a speech problem, and I feel as though I am now capable of avoiding stutters or blocks, and I no longer grimace when I speak. This has changed my life dramatically for the better.
Lee’s methods are not just methods but a way of thinking and a way of liviing. If applied with proper work ethic, they can change your whole perspective about speech and life, and your brain plasticity. I can’t thank Lee enough for his book and for the many hours that he Skyped me almost weekly for ten months. I highly recommend Lee’s books and methods to any stutterer that finds the conventional therapy not working or who has suffered relapse after a therapy. If you stutter, it’s time to stop. You can do it too. Now, my life motto is:
Since I can say one word anywhere, anytime,
I can say any word anywhere, anytime.
Oh, also, if you want to hear me speak (no stutters and no grimaces), go to my video here: https://vimeo.com/389327433/7eb7dd5568.
Vaibhav, Canada, August 2018
P.S. Some six months after stopping stuttering, Vaibhav sent this email: “Today is my birthday. I was thinking about you and reflecting as to how much my life has changed since last year. I never knew a book can change one life so much and it all started with a book – your book. I feel so eternally thankful for your help and support for the past year. It has given me a hope and enthusiasm for everything and changed my perspective about stuttering and helped me overcome it (when no other therapist could). You are a life-saver!” Your friend, Vaibhav
P.P.S. Eighteen months after posting his Success Story, Vaibhav did this Success Validation Video: https://youtu.be/TE4BBkTXgkI .
