# Speech impediment?



## JDW (Aug 22, 2010)

I have some form of a speech impediment although I have never had it officially looked over since I was about 6-7 when I was in speech therapy which the therapist really didnt make any progress with me. The best way to describe my voice would be unclear when I begin any conversation that has more than a certain amount of words it gets to a point were the person I'm talking too can't understand me and I give up and so does he/she and thats what it has been like since high school. Even though I had a few loyal friends, looking back at the conversations I don't recall being the one telling the storys or making everyone laugh or keeping people intrested with a long conversation. Its not that I don't know what to say or how to say it because I used to chat away in primary school not knowing at the time that no one had a clue what I was saying once I figured it out I began a trip from being a happy normal 12 year old into a socially depressed 18 year old. I have got to a point were I just avoid social situations and I have shut myself from any friends that I had left after leaving school 2 years ago. So I'm intrested to know if anyone has a impediment with speech and can mabye relate to anything I have spoken about. I would love to speak to someone who can relate as I have rarely came across any and when I did I didnt take up the opportunity to speak to them. Thanks for reading this if your still here it does seem abit long I wish I could explain more feelings I have but it is so hard to get them from your mind onto paper.


----------



## iwishiwasaway (Dec 7, 2006)

I went to speech therapy when i was young too. Mild progress. Most of my progress came after.I also had a whole in my ear drum, which effected my speech. But yeah, I studder sometimes when I am nervous...erc


----------



## ge0624me (Apr 6, 2011)

Jdw is it like a stutter or stammer I'm just trying to understand what you mean when you say you can't put you words together, I myself have a speech impediment when I also get nervous ,It so bad that it even makes me freeze when meeting someone new for the first time, Strange thing is ,is that 90%of the time I'm ok ,its real situational,another trigger is speaking in front of a group of people. Does this trigger your s/I as well?


----------



## artfan100 (May 14, 2011)

ge0624me said:


> Jdw is it like a stutter or stammer I'm just trying to understand what you mean when you say you can't put you words together, I myself have a speech impediment when I also get nervous ,It so bad that it even makes me freeze when meeting someone new for the first time, Strange thing is ,is that 90%of the time I'm ok ,its real situational,another trigger is speaking in front of a group of people. Does this trigger your s/I as well?


I think i have the same speech impediment, and it's only gotten worse. It's not a stutter or stammer, but it's more like a mental "freeze" then a struggle to say anything cohesive but it comes out weirdly phrased, which doesn't really translate the point across. This is another speech impediment that might be what you were referring to?


----------



## HiILostMyVoice (Jul 25, 2012)

Hey my name is Raymond and i have a serious speech impediment. By serious i mean that i can't even say i full sentence without stuttering ove words or syllabulls. I know how you feel OP. I didn't start having my "disorder" till i was about 14 years old. I was immedietly put in speech class all through middle school but it didn't help. I entered high school and the only friends i had were friends that knew i had a speech impediment and have accepted me for it. I'm also not one of those guys that can start a conversation with others or make others laugh. I'm more of the guy who gets dragged out of his house and sits alone in silence in the corner of the bar because he's afraid he'll make an *** out of hiself. Anyways i'm just like you OP...And i wish i wasn't..I really do wish i could be one of the norms and not have this annoying speech impediment that hinders me getting a job or even getting a girl. Well thanks for listening.
-Raymond


----------



## sweetluvgurl (Jul 9, 2012)

JDW said:


> I have some form of a speech impediment although I have never had it officially looked over since I was about 6-7 when I was in speech therapy which the therapist really didnt make any progress with me. The best way to describe my voice would be unclear when I begin any conversation that has more than a certain amount of words it gets to a point were the person I'm talking too can't understand me and I give up and so does he/she and thats what it has been like since high school. Even though I had a few loyal friends, looking back at the conversations I don't recall being the one telling the storys or making everyone laugh or keeping people intrested with a long conversation. Its not that I don't know what to say or how to say it because I used to chat away in primary school not knowing at the time that no one had a clue what I was saying once I figured it out I began a trip from being a happy normal 12 year old into a socially depressed 18 year old. I have got to a point were I just avoid social situations and I have shut myself from any friends that I had left after leaving school 2 years ago. So I'm intrested to know if anyone has a impediment with speech and can mabye relate to anything I have spoken about. I would love to speak to someone who can relate as I have rarely came across any and when I did I didnt take up the opportunity to speak to them. Thanks for reading this if your still here it does seem abit long I wish I could explain more feelings I have but it is so hard to get them from your mind onto paper.


Yes, I have speech impediment. I used to be how you described as a kid. I would talk a lot more. Then, I finally realized that I wasn't making my sounds right and that people don't really know what I'm saying half of the time. So, I got to where I kept really quiet to keep from being embarrassed when someone asks someone else what I said or keeps asking me what I said. The amount of embarrassment is just awful. I'm scared to talk on the phone. My mom practically has to make me use the phone sometimes for important things that require that I do, but I avoid it at all costs. And I was petrified of giving presentations at school and when I was in college. I used to ask my teachers to not make me do it due to my SA, breathing, and speech. They usually were understanding and didn't make me. I remember in school I used to get called on in class, and in a lot of cases the teachers wouldn't understand me. It made me hate myself.

My problem with my speech is that I can't annunciate certain sounds very clearly, like the "s," "t," "z," etc. And "st" and "sk" combos are especially hard. The reason for this is I have a fairly large open bite between my top and bottom front teeth (they don't go together when I bite down). There's an inch or more gap. And some is due to my upper palate being higher arched due to my disease, and my bottom teeth at the front are overcrowded and down in gum a lot. Also, the roof of my mouth has this weird double gum roofing kinda (it's hard to explain), and some dentists have said it looks like a cleft palate tried to form in my mouth but didn't quite. But there's like an opening, but not to my nose. It's just like a gum pouch or something with an opening (again, hard to explain). So, mucus gets trapped up there a lot and stuff, and it'll interfere with my speech more. I have to keep a tissue handy to get it out. Plus, with my breathing issues, my voice volume drops pretty quickly while I'm talking. So, there are parts that I'm low toned, and people can't quite hear what I'm saying. It's very frustrating.

Currently, I'm looking into getting some work done on my mouth to hopefully cut out the cleft palate formation, extract some bottom teeth and possibly get implants put in their place, and then do braces and maybe jaw realignment surgery to improve my open bite. And I'm hoping that'll help my speech more. Do you have anymore options you can look into? I know how devastating it can be to your social life. *hugs*


----------



## ravens (Aug 31, 2011)

I used to stutter real badly when I was young. I still do to sometimes, but only on the phone once in a while. I don't stutter when I'm talking to my family on the phone. When I was a kid doctors thought my tongue might be too big. The doctors talked about making it smaller, but my parents said no. My father said that his brother had his tongue made smaller when he was a kid. I've never asked a girl out so I don't know if I would stutter.


----------



## Wall of Red (Jun 24, 2011)

I've had a stutter since the age of eight and I have a lot of anxiety as a result of this with social situations. It is probably the main factor as to why I have social anxiety now.


----------



## Cheskey (Jul 6, 2012)

I have a lot of trouble with letters- I mix them up (like the classic S and SH, but also others like B and V, TH and Y ect), drop them (cah instead of cat, even when I try my best to say the T) and basically just slurring everything.
I noticed it (or rather, had some people point it out very bluntly) around age 13, but someone recently told me I'd had it since at least 11 years.... which was quite a shock.
But yeah, it does affect my SA an awful lot, where I avoid talking altogether. So, I have some sort of understanding of how you feel, OP.


----------



## the fella (Jul 28, 2012)

I've had a stutter since I was in elementary school. I may be imagining it, but it seems to have gotten worse lately. I have trouble saying certain letters or sounds. This list seems to have increased lately. Sometimes people try to be "helpful" and finish my words/sentences for me. I find this deeply offensive; I can speak. One of my majors is German. This involves a lot of speaking. It's horrifying!! This time next year, I will likely be a TA in the German dept. at my University. That will involve teaching!!  Combine the stutter with my SA and it should make for a horrifying two years! My heart races and jumps just thinking about it!! I plan to be open with the students about my stutter on the 1st day and ask them to bear with me when need be. Idk what else I could do about that.


----------



## Socialmisfit84 (Jun 23, 2012)

I don't believe so. My psychiatrist explained to me that my mind just has a tendency to think faster than I speak, and sometimes when I hold conversations about something, I usually sound like a babbling idiot because I've either lost my train of thought or my brain is trying to re-track on what I'm trying to relay. It wasn't always like this for me, so I'm guessing the depression, stress and anxiety has taken a toll on my thought processes. I never had a stutter problem or anything per se, but I've noticed that sometimes when I speak for long periods of time my speech becomes incoherent.


----------



## Marlee19 (Nov 20, 2013)

I've never been diagnosed with a speech impediment, but I've noticed that my ability to speak clearly has degenerated significantly in the past year or so. It seems like a can hardly say two sentences without mixing up words or slurring my speech. Should I be concerned that this issue seems to be coming on suddenly (I was never this way as a child) it's not that I necessarily stutter, but when I say my words, I often completely humble the sounds or can't make my mouth say what I'm trying to say.


----------



## zstandig (Sep 21, 2013)

I was a late talker, and for some reason I had trouble with the "th" sound, but that's all done with.

Maybe you could try to find another speech therapist.


----------



## Epq project (Aug 9, 2014)

Hi! 
I am a student currently undergoing research on speech deficits as part of an EPQ course, I have a great interest in speech and language therapy and i am determined to study this course at university.

I have conducted a survey to gather some general information, all responses will be anonymous. However, I'd be extremely appreciative if you could take a minute to complete this survey to help me with my research! Thank you so much!

http://freeonlinesurveys.com/s.asp?sid=qimxbns0n8nxmbi520642


----------

