Nick,

I'm going to repeat myself about speech.

Stuttering became a big deal for me, like you I spoke easily and due to my moms influence I have a nice vocabulary....stuttering bothered me and made me withdraw and become quite.

The withdrawal eventually became unacceptable and I had to figure out:
1. How to work around it.
2. How to not worry about it.
3. I eventually began to let people know when I was having a stuttering episode why and to bear with me, if I felt it appropriate to the situation, not to be used as a crutch though. Mostly this set my mind at ease and gave me the freedom to be patient with myself during the conversation.

My work around became slowing my mouth down and THINKING before I spoke, something I actually value greatly now...I had to plan somewhat what I was going to say. At first it was embarrassing though I was the only one that was aware of it!

I actually put my foot in my mouth less now, even eloquence whenmisspoken is still a foot in the mouth.

My point is search for the bright side and make that a strength. Don't look at what you see now as a loss, make it an opportunity.

Give yourself time, you are pretty early in the recovery process, you will recover and move on but take advantage of the learning opportunities, you want to go to college, you are in it right now, the college of life!


Eventually my speech has mostly returned but I now catch myself, at times, before I say something eloquently stupid.

Take Care,
Bud