Treatment Approach 

Everyone’s DNA is different…which means everyone has a different part of their anatomy that experiences some sort of sensation or reaction during instances of heightened emotions.  Some people sweat, other people’s necks and/or shoulders become tense, sometimes the need to go to the bathroom is experienced…and for some people (approximately one to two present of the world’s population) their vocal cords (two tiny muscles in the larynx which is in the throat) become tensed and lock.

The problem with this locking is that the cords must vibrate hundreds of times per second in order to produce sound.

Therefore, WORDS ARE WINGS® Stuttering Solutions™ & Fluency Flier Academy mechanical approach to stuttering treatment centers around the following question: is it that you (as you as stutterer) don’t know what it is you want to say, or, is it that you know exactly what it is you want to say but you physically (a.k.a. mechanically) cannot say it at the precise moment in time that you want to?

If the answer is the latter then the following distinction is plausible:

The Pathology of Stuttering: is a locking of the vocal cords, which are two tiny muscles in the larynx that must vibrate hundreds of times per second in order to produce sound, during instances of heightened emotions – which can be any
heightened emotion including but not limited to what is commonly perceived as “stress” or “nervousness.”

Stuttering: is the learned behavior of literally trying to push the sounds out during instances of locked, nonvibrating vocal cords.  This learned behavior is done so often that, over time, it eventually becomes habitual and the stutterer’s “autopilot” response to locked vocal cords (we, as stutterers, can actually feel when our vocal cords are locking; this explains how we know when we’re going to stutter.)

The subsequent pushing and resulting tension from locked vocal cords can become so extreme it can travel to surrounding muscles.  For example: the jaw, the tongue (which itself is a muscle), the face and back of the neck can all feel tensed during stuttering episodes but the root cause is a result of locked vocal cords.  Breathing, and thus the
abdomen, can also feel tensed as stuttering impacts breathing as well as speaking.

A good analogy to understanding this premise is trying to open an unknowingly locked door. Imagine if you’ve

successfully opened a door with the same amount of force or physical effort time and time again…and then one day, out of the blue, the door doesn’t open with that same amount of force you’ve always used to open it.  What would be your very first instinct (before thinking to look for a key?)

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In all probability your first instinct would be to push harder (…and then even harder.)

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That is precisely what happened the first time your vocal cords locked…and the more your vocal cords locked the more you kept trying to push the sounds out, time and time again, until the pushing eventually became a learned behavior which subsequently became habitual.  And as every human being knows...habits can be very difficult to break – especially those we know don’t work (that don’t yield desirable results) yet we still keep doing them anyway.

So…whether the stuttering occurs on a sound, syllable, word or phrase, WORDS AREWINGS® Stuttering Solutions™

& Fluency Flier Academy treatment approach is to teach stutterers techniques that, with sustained practice, keep the vocal cords vibrating to the point where speech is fluent (because of the cords are vibrating there will be no reason to push…and the learned habit of pushing during instances of locking vocal cords is, quite literally, what stuttering is).  If the stuttering is more severe because the vocal cords are still locking, with sustained practice the same techniques will restore enough vibratory potential that the vocal cords will vibrate enough so that resulting stuttering with be noticeably less and hopefully minimal if at all.

Whether you’re a stutterer who stutters on a sound, syllable, word or phrase the vocal cords are still locking and you’re still pushing during these instances; it’s just a question of when the cords are locking ergo if you’re able to keep the vocal cords vibrating there will be no reason to push (to stutter.)

WORDS ARE WINGS® Stuttering Solutions™ & Fluency Flier Academy mechanical treatment approach is also based on the answer to the following question: as a stutterer…is it that you don’t know what it is you want to say?  Or, is it that you know exactly what it is you want to say but you physically (a.k.a. mechanically) cannot say it at the precise moment in time that you want to?

If the answer is the latter then WORDS ARE WINGS® Stuttering Solutions™ & Fluency Flier Academy is for you.

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WORDS ARE WINGS® Stuttering Solutions™ & Fluency Flier Academy treatment approaches take time and sustained practice. All clients work directly with me for the duration of their association with WORDS ARE WINGS®.

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Words Are Wings®  A better approach to proactive fluency.