West Coast Stuttering Center
Bailey V. Levis, MS, CCC-SLP is a licensed Speech and Language Pathologist dedicated to supporting c
Stuttering is a neurological condition that affects the brain's ability to coordinate the complex movements needed for speech. 🧠🗣️ Recent research has explored the potential of brain stimulation techniques to improve fluency in people who stutter. ⚡🔬
One approach involves using transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to stimulate specific areas of the brain involved in speech production. 🧠⚡ By enhancing the activity of these regions, researchers hope to improve the coordination and timing of speech movements, leading to more fluent speech. 🎙️💬
While the initial results of these studies are promising, more research is needed to fully understand the efficacy, potential benefits and long-term effects of brain stimulation for stuttering treatment. 🔍📊 As scientists continue to explore this approach, it may offer new hope for people who stutter seeking to improve their fluency and communication skills. 😊🌟
07/07/2024
How can you support someone who stutters? 🤝💕
As a stuttering ally, you can learn from the increased comfort with virtual communication during the pandemic to create stutter-friendly spaces.
Help alleviate stuttering-related anxiety by being patient, maintaining eye contact, and not finishing their sentences. Prioritize the content of what is being said over how it is being said.
By creating supportive, patient environments, allies empower people who stutter to thrive.
05/07/2024
Avoiding stuttering due to fear only reinforces that fear, preventing the opportunity to overcome it. 😨🚫
Speech therapists encourage stuttering openly because approaching fear with the right mindset allows you to move past it. 💪😊
The COVID-19 pandemic and resulting lockdowns brought about changes in social interaction and communication that some people who stutter found beneficial. 😷💻 With reduced in-person interactions and a shift towards virtual communication, many experienced less anxiety and felt more comfortable speaking. 😌🗣️
These experiences highlight the importance of creating stutter-friendly environments that minimize stress and anxiety. 🌿💆♀️ By understanding the factors that contribute to more comfortable communication, we can work towards making lasting changes in schools, workplaces, and social settings. 🏫💼👥
Ultimately, changing societal attitudes about what constitutes "good" communication is crucial. 🌎💬 By focusing on the content and value of the message rather than the manner of delivery, we can create a more inclusive and accepting world for people who stutter. 🤝🌈
Cultural attitudes can significantly impact the stigma and treatment of stuttering worldwide. 🌍🗣️
Public figures like Joe Biden and Emily Blunt, who speak openly about their stutters, are helping to reduce stigma and change perceptions. 🙌📣 By sharing their experiences and successes, they demonstrate that stuttering doesn't have to hold you back from achieving your goals. 🎯💫
To further support people who stutter, friends, family, and colleagues can become allies by creating stutter-friendly environments and reducing anxiety. 👥❤️ This can involve being patient listeners, not finishing sentences, and focusing on the content of the message rather than the delivery. 👂💬
01/07/2024
How can we change society's view of stuttering? 🌍💭
To reduce stuttering stigma, we must shift focus from the stutter to the listener's expectations and perceptions. Challenging societal norms that equate fluency with effective communication is crucial.
Public figures like Joe Biden and Emily Blunt, who speak openly about their stutters, help reduce stigma. However, cultural influences on stuttering perceptions vary worldwide.
By reshaping expectations and celebrating diverse voices, we can foster greater acceptance of stuttering.
29/06/2024
In people who stutter, nerve fibers connecting language and speech motor areas of the brain are less efficient. 🧠🎙️
This inefficiency is like a freeway during rush hour, making it difficult for speech to flow smoothly. 🚗🚥
Stuttering is a complex condition with both genetic and neurological factors. 🧬🧠 While some genes have been identified, not everyone who stutters has these genes, suggesting that other genes may be involved. 🔬🤔
Research has also shown that nerve fibers connecting language and speech motor parts of the brain are less efficient in people who stutter. 🎙️🚗 This inefficiency can be compared to a freeway during rush hour, where cars (speech) struggle to move smoothly and efficiently. 🚥
Despite these factors, stuttering doesn't always have to be disabling. 💪 With the right mindset and support, many people who stutter can take control of their lives and communicate effectively. 😊🌟
Overcoming a disabling stutter 💪😊🗣️
For many people, stuttering doesn't have to be disabling, even if it's legally considered a disability. Working on the fear and taking control of your life can mean you're no longer disabled by stuttering, as the speaker himself experienced. His stuttering used to be disabling and stop him from many things, but not anymore. Change is possible!
Speech therapists often encourage clients to stutter openly rather than avoiding stuttering. 🗣️💬 The benefits of this approach include facing the fear of stuttering head-on and potentially reducing the severity and duration of stuttering over time. 😊💪
When you avoid stuttering due to fear, you never have the opportunity to move past that fear. 😨 By approaching your fear with a positive mindset, you can start to overcome it. 🌟 Additionally, to change how you stutter, you first need to allow yourself to stutter openly. 🎙️ Avoiding stuttering or using tricks to hide it can create layers that need to be peeled away before real progress can be made. 🧅
25/06/2024
Why should you stutter openly? 🗣️✨
Embracing your stutter, instead of trying to hide it, has powerful benefits. Approaching your fear of stuttering helps you move past it and reduce its hold over time.
To change how you stutter, you first need to allow yourself to stutter openly. Avoiding stuttering often involves using other types of stutters, creating complex layers to address.
Stuttering openly empowers you to face fears, enables change, and unlocks your true potential.
Stuttering: Nature or nurture? 🧬🍼🗣️
Stuttering has genetic factors - they've found some associated genes. But not everyone who stutters has those exact genes, suggesting there are likely other genes involved that haven't been identified yet. Stuttering tends to run in families, but only about half of people who stutter are aware of having a family history. Both genes and environment seem to play a role.
23/06/2024
Stuttering openly involves not hiding your stutter or using avoidance strategies. 🗣️💬
By approaching the fear of stuttering with a positive mindset, you can potentially reduce stuttering over time. 😊🌟
Culture can impact the stigma and treatment of stuttering. 🌍🗣️
Perceptions of stuttering differ in different parts of the world.
Disability or choice? ♿🤔🔑
Stuttering is absolutely a disability. For some, we allow it to disable us. But we can make a different choice about that. While legally it may be a disability, the extent to which it actually disables someone in their life can vary and may be influenced by mindset and approach.
Nerve fibers connecting language and speech motor parts of the brain are less efficient in people who stutter. 🧠🎙️
This is like a freeway during rush hour, making it hard for cars (speech) to move efficiently. 🚗🚥
19/06/2024
Is stuttering always a disability? 🤔💬
In the U.S., stuttering is legally considered a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act. However, the severity and impact of stuttering varies among individuals.
For some, stuttering can be severely disabling, while others can manage it without major limitations. Working on fear and taking control can help some stutterers reduce the disabling effects.
Ultimately, while legally a disability, the extent to which stuttering is disabling differs for each person.
Is stuttering always disabling? 🤔♿🗣️
In the US, stuttering is legally considered a disability and people who stutter have protections under the ADA. But it doesn't always have to be disabling. For some, working on the fear and taking control of their life means stuttering no longer disables them. For others who stutter more severely, it can be truly disabling. It varies from person to person.
17/06/2024
In the US, stuttering is legally recognized as a disability, providing protections under the ADA. 🇺🇸♿
However, stuttering doesn't have to be disabling for everyone, and some individuals can take control of their lives despite their stutter. 💪🙌
Stuttering openly means not hiding your stutter or using avoidance tricks. 🗣️💬
It allows you to approach the fear of stuttering with a positive mindset and potentially stutter less over time. 😊🌟
Layers of stuttering avoidance 🧅😞🗣️
To change how you stutter, you first have to allow yourself to stutter. When you avoid stuttering, you're not actually stuttering. Sometimes we avoid one type of stutter with a different type of stutter. There are layers to stuttering avoidance that need to be peeled away, like layers of an onion.
Stuttering is legally considered a disability in the US, and people who stutter have protections under the Americans with Disabilities Act. 🇺🇸♿
However, stuttering doesn't always have to be disabling, and some can take control of their lives despite it. 💪🙌
Why avoid your stutter? 🙈😰❓
People avoid stuttering for many reasons - to avoid uncomfortable emotions like shame and embarrassment, the looks from others, or because it's physically hard and exhausting. But avoiding stuttering because of fear only makes that fear stronger. You never have the opportunity to move past the fear if you always avoid it.
11/06/2024
Scientists have identified genes associated with stuttering, but not everyone who stutters has these genes. 🧬
This suggests that there are likely other genetic factors involved in stuttering that have yet to be discovered. 🔬🤔
Stuttering has genetic factors, but not everyone who stutters has the identified genes. 🧬
This suggests there are likely other genes involved that scientists haven't found yet. 🔬🤔
The power of stuttering openly? 🗣️💪✨
Stuttering openly means not hiding your stutter or using avoidance tricks. It's about letting the stuttering out. Many speech therapists advocate for this approach. The benefits include approaching your fear, moving past it with the right mindset, and potentially stuttering less with less tension. Stuttering openly is also necessary to make changes to your speech patterns.
16/05/2024
Confronting and challenging the self-doubt stemming from my stutter has led me to realize my true competence and worth. It's a reminder that I am more than my speech. 🌟
🌟 Visualization techniques can reduce speaking anxiety. Imagine a successful conversation or presentation to build confidence and reduce stuttering's impact.
🧠 Your mind is a powerful tool in managing stuttering.
Want to learn how this can work for you?
Request Appointment | West Coast Stuttering Center | SimplePractice
10/05/2024
Learning to control my breath has not only helped manage my stutter but also brought a newfound calmness to my days. The 'box breath' technique is my go-to for instant relaxation. 🌬️
https://westcoaststutteringcenter.clientsecure.me/request/service
📈 Stuttering doesn't limit professional success. Many leaders and innovators stutter, proving that communication is more than fluency.
💪 Embrace your unique voice as a powerful tool.
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