Wednesday, December 17, 2008

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?)