dritan
08-09-2006, 02:56 PM
A block use to be to me the worst thing ever. I was willing to cope with my ba-ba-bas and sto-stro-stros, but a block was like a “stop” sign, followed by a “no traffic allowed” sign, in a “one-way” high speed road. I use to stop stoned and confused. There was no turning back and no going forward. Very discomforting; a situation that made me some times cry. Not just a figure of speech! Real cry, with real tears!
I call now that situation: The Nightmare!
After the therapy and so much work, my stuttering is nearly gone and when I feel a block coming, I deal with it and the conversation goes on. To tell you the truth, I have never had a true understanding of the block and its nature. Even I knew how to treat a block; it was just a mechanical process, made up with costal breathing and sometimes with voluntary sliding.
The psychological stress of the block, with time had faded way, but till a few days ago, I can say that the real nature of the block to me was still a mystery.
I can say for sure that my blocks where caused by emotional distress. Even a mild emotion could make me block.
For this reason I have been looking for an analogy to understand a bit better my blocks. Thanks to Endrit, a young man from Durres (Albania), which I’m helping to overcome his stuttering, I finally found one.
“The ghost train”
Yep, that’s right! The ghost train… and the railroad.
I was sitting with Endrit in front of a villa, not to fare from the railway. I asked Endrit to explain his blocks to me. Using a self discovering technique, I try to make the stutterers that I help, to reach to the truth of their stuttering; this way making them understand that is not the therapy that will correct their stuttering, but their efforts and understanding of the problem. To this goal, I have found that the biggest part of the therapy has more effect if done outside the controlled settings of the therapist’s studio.
Anyway! When I asked Endrit to tell me about his bocks, a cargo train was passing by. Endrit responded: “The block is like I am walking on the railroad and suddenly I feel that a train is coming toward me. Is going to heat me so hard and I am afraid and cannot move”.
These fatalistic settings hit me so hard and I finally understood the emotional charge of his blocks.
Later on, I set on my char to watch a movie. When I turned on the TV, Woobby Goldberg was running around the room, followed by Patrick Swazi. EUREKA! The ghost! I had found finally my analogy. The ghost train!
The story
Somewhere in the west, in the desert, is The Railway. Is an old railroad, where the trains do not run from long time. Is told that long time ago, on this railroad happened a terrible-terrible accident. The legend tells that before the accident, the machinist, a young man on his first trip on that railroad, was very afraid. In his dream he had foreseen the terrible tragedy.
Like all good stories go, the tragedy did happen and from that time, when someone walks between the tracks and for some reason feels afraid, can hear and see the Ghost Train coming.
That’s the legend! I’m sure that something like this is already told somewhere, but to be honest, I made up this one. What good is if we try to find out something about us and not having some fun doing so?
Anyway! Now think that is you walking between the tracks of the railroad. Is something that we all have done. You try to keep your feet on the wooden ties that hold down and together the ion rails. But your normal step is a bit longer then the distance between the ties. You try to keep up with this new size of your step and soon you get tiered. Your eyes start to see double from the repeating pattern of the rail track and you are afraid of falling.
You are afraid? Forgot what I told you? If you get afraid you will see… The Ghost Train. You get more afraid just because you are afraid. Now you can hear it and in a heart bit you will see it also. The Ghost Train is running toward you, yelling the fee-fee-fee scream.
You freeze and cannot move. A big metal monster is coming toward you with a lot of steam on its charge.
The point is that you do know that it is just a ghost train and it really cannot heart you, but you still can’t move.
From this point I’m leaving you choose how the story goes. You can choose to get of the track or you can’t, because your feet do not obey you. In this case your heart is just waiting to stop from the fear.
Or you can do something else. You can smile to the running train, because you know that it is just a ghost and cannot hurt you.
If you choose the smile, the ghost-train will disappear just before hitting you and you will turn to your walking on the old railroad.
A bit confusing this story! It surely looks like that, but in reality is very simple. In the same way like our feet get confused because of the mismatch distance between the wooden ties, our words which are the steps of our speech get tangled, because they are not the same size. The same way how we stop or fall when walking on the railroad, happens in our speech. We block and we need a lot of effort to restart or we fall altogether from the conversation.
Everything happens because we loose the control over our steps-words, speed and rhythm.
This is the block. Loosing all control over your speech, your power to stop and your logic.
It seems like a big thing to consider the block like a near death experience, but it is the near death and sometime the death of conversation.
Over this concept I experimented with my self and Endrit. Treating the block for its true nature, is the way out of it. It comes to us because of an emotional push and this means that it is a ghost from the past experiences, is not real, but we materialize all its bad effects because we truly believe that it can hurt us. You have to convince your self that you do not have in front of you a real train. As I said, it is just a memory from your past accidents. Let it pass through you. Just close your eyes and in a heart bit it will be gone. I know that this is easy told, but not that easy done. If it is easy I would not need to right down all of this.
Endrit stutters now but he does not block anymore. Now, like is mother said: He stutters, but he can speak!
To stutter without blocks is speaking not that fluently like other people do, but the conversation goes on.
Find your ghost… and wipe it out of your mind.
And… have fun!
Dritan Kici
Easy Word Project director
Tirana-Albania
I call now that situation: The Nightmare!
After the therapy and so much work, my stuttering is nearly gone and when I feel a block coming, I deal with it and the conversation goes on. To tell you the truth, I have never had a true understanding of the block and its nature. Even I knew how to treat a block; it was just a mechanical process, made up with costal breathing and sometimes with voluntary sliding.
The psychological stress of the block, with time had faded way, but till a few days ago, I can say that the real nature of the block to me was still a mystery.
I can say for sure that my blocks where caused by emotional distress. Even a mild emotion could make me block.
For this reason I have been looking for an analogy to understand a bit better my blocks. Thanks to Endrit, a young man from Durres (Albania), which I’m helping to overcome his stuttering, I finally found one.
“The ghost train”
Yep, that’s right! The ghost train… and the railroad.
I was sitting with Endrit in front of a villa, not to fare from the railway. I asked Endrit to explain his blocks to me. Using a self discovering technique, I try to make the stutterers that I help, to reach to the truth of their stuttering; this way making them understand that is not the therapy that will correct their stuttering, but their efforts and understanding of the problem. To this goal, I have found that the biggest part of the therapy has more effect if done outside the controlled settings of the therapist’s studio.
Anyway! When I asked Endrit to tell me about his bocks, a cargo train was passing by. Endrit responded: “The block is like I am walking on the railroad and suddenly I feel that a train is coming toward me. Is going to heat me so hard and I am afraid and cannot move”.
These fatalistic settings hit me so hard and I finally understood the emotional charge of his blocks.
Later on, I set on my char to watch a movie. When I turned on the TV, Woobby Goldberg was running around the room, followed by Patrick Swazi. EUREKA! The ghost! I had found finally my analogy. The ghost train!
The story
Somewhere in the west, in the desert, is The Railway. Is an old railroad, where the trains do not run from long time. Is told that long time ago, on this railroad happened a terrible-terrible accident. The legend tells that before the accident, the machinist, a young man on his first trip on that railroad, was very afraid. In his dream he had foreseen the terrible tragedy.
Like all good stories go, the tragedy did happen and from that time, when someone walks between the tracks and for some reason feels afraid, can hear and see the Ghost Train coming.
That’s the legend! I’m sure that something like this is already told somewhere, but to be honest, I made up this one. What good is if we try to find out something about us and not having some fun doing so?
Anyway! Now think that is you walking between the tracks of the railroad. Is something that we all have done. You try to keep your feet on the wooden ties that hold down and together the ion rails. But your normal step is a bit longer then the distance between the ties. You try to keep up with this new size of your step and soon you get tiered. Your eyes start to see double from the repeating pattern of the rail track and you are afraid of falling.
You are afraid? Forgot what I told you? If you get afraid you will see… The Ghost Train. You get more afraid just because you are afraid. Now you can hear it and in a heart bit you will see it also. The Ghost Train is running toward you, yelling the fee-fee-fee scream.
You freeze and cannot move. A big metal monster is coming toward you with a lot of steam on its charge.
The point is that you do know that it is just a ghost train and it really cannot heart you, but you still can’t move.
From this point I’m leaving you choose how the story goes. You can choose to get of the track or you can’t, because your feet do not obey you. In this case your heart is just waiting to stop from the fear.
Or you can do something else. You can smile to the running train, because you know that it is just a ghost and cannot hurt you.
If you choose the smile, the ghost-train will disappear just before hitting you and you will turn to your walking on the old railroad.
A bit confusing this story! It surely looks like that, but in reality is very simple. In the same way like our feet get confused because of the mismatch distance between the wooden ties, our words which are the steps of our speech get tangled, because they are not the same size. The same way how we stop or fall when walking on the railroad, happens in our speech. We block and we need a lot of effort to restart or we fall altogether from the conversation.
Everything happens because we loose the control over our steps-words, speed and rhythm.
This is the block. Loosing all control over your speech, your power to stop and your logic.
It seems like a big thing to consider the block like a near death experience, but it is the near death and sometime the death of conversation.
Over this concept I experimented with my self and Endrit. Treating the block for its true nature, is the way out of it. It comes to us because of an emotional push and this means that it is a ghost from the past experiences, is not real, but we materialize all its bad effects because we truly believe that it can hurt us. You have to convince your self that you do not have in front of you a real train. As I said, it is just a memory from your past accidents. Let it pass through you. Just close your eyes and in a heart bit it will be gone. I know that this is easy told, but not that easy done. If it is easy I would not need to right down all of this.
Endrit stutters now but he does not block anymore. Now, like is mother said: He stutters, but he can speak!
To stutter without blocks is speaking not that fluently like other people do, but the conversation goes on.
Find your ghost… and wipe it out of your mind.
And… have fun!
Dritan Kici
Easy Word Project director
Tirana-Albania