Will my unborn child stutter like me?

I'm expecting my first child in May. Hurraaayyy!!!! What an exciting time to know that in a little over five months, I'll have a new person with me that my husband and I created. I think about what type of life it will have and of course how I can make my child the happiest and healthiest in the world.

Struggling to speak fluently for most of my life, I can't help but wonder if I will give birth to a child with a speech dysfluency. What if my child has a stutter worse than mine? How will I help her cope with this extra challenge? Heck, life is hard enough.
Everyone knows that stuttering is genetic and that it runs in families (60% of people with a stutter have a family member who stutters). I have an uncle that used to stutter when he was younger. Luckily for him, he grew out of it completely. In my case the problem- albeit a small and manageable one - still persists. I have my stutter-free days and my days with "slip-ups" and "trips" along the way.

My main concern is that I don't want my child to have a negative image of herself because she stutters. It took me a long time to remove such negative thinking from my mind. Especially that people think I'm stupid because I stutter etc.

Just some things I'm think about right now.

Stuttering in 2008 - My look back

Over the past year I've made some major progress with my stuttering. For so many years, I spoke too fast and tried to get too many words out without getting enough air flow. After so many years I've finally learned to slow down and take a breath. Of course I still have my relapses, but nothing like before. There will be times when I'm tired and I don't have enough air flow. This causes me to "trip" over my words, i.e. experience a short pause. Never the less, I've made tremendous improvements with my speech. I no longer consider it a shortcoming, but just an extra challenge in my life. A condition that has improved with my age. There are people around the world that have it much worse than I. Whenever I want to say something, I know I can. I just have to take a deep breathe and begin.

My inspiration - When I listen to news correspondents like Brian Williams, Babara Walters, or highly educated academics or politicians, I notice how they speak - slow and clear. They are never rushing to get to the end of the sentence. They are emphasizing every word and they are very relaxed. (The only news anchor/personality that makes me wonder is Tom Brokaw. When he reports the news, he appears to be experiencing breathing issues. Or is it just me?)

Swimming and playing the trumpet have helped my breathing

After taking both swimming and trumpet lessons over the past three months, I can see a difference in my speech pattern. Speech is smoother than before and I'm sure its due to the fact that one has to be in control of their breathing at all times during a swim or performing on a trumpet. I just feel much more relaxed with my speech. Nothing is forced.

Today I have a telephone conference with a major client and for the first time in a long time I feel confident. I feel more in control of my air flow. I just have to remember to slow down and not try to get everything out in 2 minutes. I've always had this problem of speaking too fast. This is when the train wrecks normally happen.

In the end, I have a stuttering brain but that doesn't mean I have to like it...

Recently....

My stuttering has improved recently, although I do still sometimes stutter around family (I guess its because I know them so well and vice versa), I feel much more confident about my speech pattern these days. This is due to the fact that I try to slow down when I want to say something and also I think about my breathing. I'm always telling myself, "Take a breath before you open your mouth." Like most stutters, I have so much going on in my brain that my mouth just can't keep up. Therefore I have to slow it down. I suppose I would make a pretty bad comedian.

A close call

Today I attended a seminar on web marketing. I started to ask a question at the end of the seminar and I felt myself tense up, hold my breathe and then start to speak. This happens normally when I 'm nervous (as a stutterer one is already a bit socially anxious). When I'm comfortable, I breathe normally and then speak. Luckily what followed was a quick transition away from the "abyss" as I like to call it. As a recovering stutterer, I have to be careful to catch a relapse before it gets out of hand. Immediately when I realized I was getting nervous and short on air, I immediately began to relax. The rest of my discussion went very well (except for a "the the the the" part). I don't think anyone even noticed- it probably looked like I was a bit nervous or something. My question was followed by a fruitful discussion.

Like I mentioned in my previous post, my stuttering isn't very noticeable. For example, I don't stutter to the degree that I begin salivating and/or have facial contortions. There are just times when I have to pause for air (regroup). For many people, controlling the flow of air is the main problem.

I have a stutter/stammer and the older I get I'm more comfortable with it. It is part of my experience as a human being in this crazy world. However, as a professional I really have to watch my speech and make sure that I don't let a stressful situation get the best of me. Besides, in the business world time is money and no has time for a stutter/stammer.

Toastmasters - Inspiring Speech About Overcoming Stuttering

What type of stutterer am I?

Yes I stutter - stammer if you're British. Speech therapists say I exhibit secondary stuttering behavior. I've moved on from the classic observable characteristics such as repetition, prollllllllllongation and blocks. My secondary speech (escape) patterns are tools I developed to hide my stutter and appear normal to others. The patterns are things like saying "you know" or losing eye contact with others to take the attention away from what I'm saying. At first my parents thought it was a breathing problem and sent me to speech therapy to control my breathing. It worked and I improved alot - I stopped talking as fast and I started to remember that I have to breath first before I begin to speak. However, I still had a stutter, though very slight, it was still with me. It would normally come out when I was tired, if I was nervous or had to give a presentation in school. I had to correct the problem on my own so I picked up cute, barely noticeable habits, to prevent the other kids from teasing me. I've actually been quite good at masking my stutter from many people, individuals who would be surprised that I had a speech disorder at all. Has it prevented me from getting a job? No. Has it prevented me from making friends, getting dates, getting laid or even getting married? NO WAY! Its just that my stutter inconveniently rrrrrrrrreminds me that it has never lllllllleft my side and may always be there. When it comes out it is quite noticeable and embarrassing because it is usually when I'm nervous and doing business deals on the phone or in person. I hate this. Seriously, who wants to do business with a stutterer? Its not sexy at all... Sometimes I just wish it would all go away - I feel like such a loser when I let my stutter slip out. There are times when I still wonder why I still have insecurities about my self - I have such a great life! I generally like myself and think I'm one of the funniest people I know. I just have a stutter that at times makes me feel low, but hasn't prevented me from living a very full and productive life.