Monday, December 25, 2006

Fluent when as fast as possible?

I am wondering how many people who stutter can speak more fluently when they speak as-fast-as-possible. I am able to speak relatively fluently when speaking as fast as possible (and fluent when I know what I will say), which is a bit paradoxical when you consider that I cant say some words easily when I speak at a normal rate...

Here is my observation:

very fast: relatively fluent
fast: more dysfluent
normal rate: dysfluent
slow: relatively fluent
very slow: fluent

My questions:
1) Is the performance of fluent speakers better at ultra-fast speed?
2) Why do stutterers seem to have more control when talking very fast?

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi,

I totally observe the same. I sometimes use a metronome to read a text in front of friends to show them how fast I can read. With it I can read or speak at all speeds from slow to fast, as long as I have something to read or exactly know what to say. Using DAF I am able also to speak almost fluent, but it needs some practice. I added you to my bloglist, hope its ok.

Tom Weidig said...

It is very strange that we can do very complicated stuff like speaking very fast, but we do stutter.

Anonymous said...

It seems to be in compliance with the dual premotor model proposed by the Per Alm. The nearer of the natural, bigger the difficulty in maintaining the fluency of the speech.

Anonymous said...

Hey Tom,

This is a great site. I think a long time ago (if I remember correctly) you posted a blog about comedy writer Rob Bloom who writes the humor articles and you mentioned that Rob Bloom stutters. Do you have any way to get in touch with him?

In terms of my own stutter, I'm pretty fluent when I use DAF too. But (of course) it's hard to transfer that success into every day situations.

Great blog. Happy new year.

-Bill
Philadelphia, PA
USA

Tom Weidig said...

I don't know Rob Bloom!! At least not that I know of! ;-)

Felix said...

I believe the stutters can read or speak very fast becouse in this situation the feedback is more prioceptive than auditive. In the normal rate, more disfluencies, the feedback is more auditive.

Or...how they are concentrate on going fast, is can to do like distract effect....and then more fluent...

Feliz Navidad y Feliz Anyo Nuevo!!!

Anonymous said...

Tom, good job on the blog!

My stutter has been getting progressively worse with time. Most of it I think is because of the "learned stutter". The fact that my brain tells me when I will stutter at the time my thoughts are forming leads me to believe that.

Here's what I've noticed:
- When I drink wheat beer, eat bread / pizza, my stutter gets worse, and from what I've read online, there might be a correlation there. So, I am going gluten-free now.
- When I workout sometimes, my stutter reduces drastically.
- When I drink rum / OJ sometimes, my stutter reduces.
- When I am driving and talking to someone in the car, my stutter increases.

Random thoughts, I know.. but I just thought I'd put them on here incase if someone else similar experiences.