Greetings from Virginia

[jstandridge]

Hello, Everyone,

My name is Jerry, a 47 year old male who has stuttered most of his life. I have been married to Diane for 26 1/2 years, and our son, Jason, will be 25 years old this September (Is anyone in need for a hard-working electrical engineer!!??).

I have just crossed 30 years in the Army, and with few exceptions, I have been truely enjoying my profession. My first nine years was as a saxophonist in bands, followed by officer training and subsequent assignments as a commander and conductor for Army Bands. I now reside in Virginia Beach and work for the Armed Forces School of Music.

In reference to stuttering, my basic philosophy is that those of us who stutter and receive treatment are "recovering stutterers." We will always stutter, but we can also control the severity of our stuttering. I have gone through the Hollins program and received formal therapy with other speech pathologists. The strong correlation I have experienced with the various programs is that self-therapy is the key to optimal success. My primary reference is Malcom Fraser's "Self-Therapy for the Stutterer," putblished by the Suttering Foundation of America.

That's about enough for now. I'll be glancing this website two to three times a week to read and comment.

...glad to be a new member!

Jerry

[velvet]

Hello Jerry!

You are a saxophonist? I always thought guys who play that is very very charming. :o

Talk to you soon!

[Aesop]

Jerry,

Can you play Kenny G's Forever in Love? I love that piece.

Can you tell me more about the self therapy you mentioned? Is it working well for you?

[jstandridge]

Hello Jerry!

You are a saxophonist? I always thought guys who play that is very very charming. :o

Talk to you soon!

Thanks! Although I can still play, it has been over five years since I've performed on sax (and that was in front of my extended family during a holiday get-together!). I haven't played professionally since becoming an officer, hence the probable reason for losing most of my charm....... :D

[jstandridge]

Jerry,

Can you play Kenny G's Forever in Love? I love that piece.

Can you tell me more about the self therapy you mentioned? Is it working well for you?


I not as familiar with Kenny G as many others, due to mainly I focus more on other alto saxophonists whereas his primary instrument is soprano saxophone.

The self-therapy has worked well for me and continues to do so. Of course, the amount of time I put into it pretty much equates to what I receive. Certain periods of my life (i.e. work suspenses and health issues with family) have not allowed me to give proper attention to the program. I would start seeing some degration after a normal period of sustainment from self-therapy, which would motivate me to get back into the regimen.

Each of the twelve steps listed and explained in "Self-therapy for the Stutterer" is very detailed; I have highlighted passages and notes throughout the 180+ pages contained in the book.

Can it work for you? I would say to some extent, absolutely. The quality of the therapy would depend on how your brain is wired to learn. For instance, I have read that most people have more success in learning by way of formal instruction, i.e. in a classroom environment for a college education, or exclusively with a speech pathologist for stutterers such as ourselves. A few of us learn better by nontraditional methods, such as obtaining a college degree online or utilizing the procedures laid out in self-therapy programs.

Again, I feel that anyone can receive some benefit from reading the book and consistently working on acheiving what each individual feels is an acceptable level of fluency.

Thanks for letting me ramble.

Jerry