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.