Responses to the Valsalva Hypothesis from Readers Who
Stutter
I recognize
that responses to the Valsalva Hypothesis from readers who stutter are not
the same as scientific proof. Nevertheless, the large volume of positive
responses indicates that I am not unique in my perceptions about the Valsalva
mechanism and stuttering. Many other people have also found the hypothesis
to be the most accurate description of their stuttering experience. Furthermore,
many who have experimented with Valsalva Control, on a self-help basis, have
reported that it has helped to reduce the severity of their stuttering blocks.
Although anecdotal, these reports demonstrate the need for research into
the possible relationship between the Valsalva mechanism and stuttering
behavior. - W.D.P.
Representative customer reviews of Understanding and
Controlling Stuttering: A Comprehensive New Approach Based on the Valsalva
Hypothesis (2nd edition), at Amazon.com (average as of July 2002 - 5 stars out
of 5):
*****
I'm in Control, September 20, 2001
Reviewer:
Katrina
from Long Island, NY
William
Parry is a genius. Not only did this book keep me on the edge of my seat,
and even made me laugh, but it also revealed the secret of stuttering.
This book gave me the tools for fluency. For once, I am in control
of what I say. I can talk on the phone, give presentations in class, et cetera...
without even thinking about how I'm going to get certain words out. Sometimes
it feels like a dream. I will continue to do my excercises (half hour a day)
so I never have to wake up! I recommend this book to anyone who
stutters or is in the speech pathology/communications field. [Emphasis
added.]
*****
I
am out of the dark, April 7, 2002
Reviewer:
A
reader from France
Excellent
book! A must buy for every stutterer.
*****
Invaluable and Profound, April 17, 2002
Reviewer:
mihir
karia from NJ USA
Whether
you are a speech therapist/pathologist or a stutterer, I highly recommend
that you buy this book. It demystifies several aspects of stuttering, including
the speech blocks that are so often experienced. It explains the neurological
confusion between speech and the valsalva mechanism and how this affects
disfluency. It explains why males predominate the stuttering population by
pointing out sexual differences in the valsalva mechanism. Mr. William Parry
also provides a self-therapy program called Valsalva Control, which can be
effectively used to control stuttering. After reading this book,
for the first time, I was able to get non-stutterers to personally experience
the closing of the larynx and other physiological symptoms of a stuttering
block created by the valsalva mechanism. This book gave me the "Ah-ha! That
explains so much." feeling. [Emphasis added.]
*****
The only method that worked !!, May 21, 2002
Reviewer:
A
reader from NY, USA
This book
is the most comprehensive work I have encountered about stuttering. Moreover,
the technique explained in it is the only one that made a huge difference
in the LONG RUN for me, while other courses and treatment I had had an effect
for a few months only. A MUST FOR ANY STUTTERING PERSON WHO IS STARTING
TO LOSE HOPE! [Emphasis added.]
*****
Valsalva Hypothesis? Yes!, May 21, 2002
Reviewer:
Viktor
Janouch from Czech Republic
I recently
read this excellent book, Understanding & Controlling Stuttering. This
book is fascinating and it reveals for me a lot of new insights. This book
explained for me the roots of my problem and showed me a way to improve my
speech. I knew a lot from my own experience, but this book helped me to realize
all of the connections.
*****
Explains my stuttering better than anyone else before, May 21,
2002
Reviewer:
Pablo from Spain
I found
it very interesting and helpful. It explains my stuttering better
than anyone else before. I have begun to carry out the everyday
exercises. I find that if i control the Valsalva mechanism i do not
stutter. My biggest aspiration is to remember doing it in stressing
situations. I guess is a question of time and confidence. It is also a great
help for me my membership in ttm-l, a group of self-help in spanish. The
most important thing i learned reading this book and in the self-help group
is to be proud of myself regardless of my fluency. [Emphasis
added.]
*****
UNDERSTANDING AND CONTROLLING / VALSALVA, May 24, 2002
Reviewer:
willem buys from South Africa
This book
is the best that I have ever utilized. My developmental stuttering
and severe blocks are described exactly the way it is. My
speech improved drastically, and therefore I would recommend this
book with no doubt in my mind. [Emphasis added.]
*****
Valsalva Hypothesis describes my stuttering very precisely, May
29, 2002
Reviewer:
Jiri Mazoch from Czech Republic
When I
read about Valsalva hypothesis for the first time in an article by Mr. William
Parry on the internet, I decided to buy the book "Understanding & Controlling
Stuttering" to learn more about this mechanism. The book is very well written
from the beginning till end. The explanation of the speech mechanism, the
basics of speech, speech functions of the brain, the Valsalva mechanism and
all information are written in intelligible terms. The exercises for Valsalva
and speech control are very well proposed. I was always puzzled why I spoke
fluently in some situations and was not able to say a single word in other
ones. I knew I gave much effort to my speech. The Valsalva hypothesis
is the most precise description of my stuttering I have ever encountered.
I am severe stutterer and exercises described in this book improved my fluency
and I hope this improvement will continue. This is the most interesting
book about stuttering I have read and I recommend it to anyone who stutters.
[Emphasis added.]
*****
Inspiring and useful, May 29, 2002
Reviewer:
Hans
Holter Solhjell from Oslo Norway
I have
read Mr Parry's book and find it to [be] a brilliant book and the best book
on stuttering i have come across. It is very well researched and he makes
a compelling argument for his theory. He also gives suggestions, based on
the theory, for how to deal with stuttering.
The
Valsalva hypothesis matches my own experience with stuttering and have given
me good ideas on how to refine my own, and very succesfull, process of achieving
comfortable and fluent speech. The book should be of great interest
to both persons who stutter and to proffesionals in the field. Hopefully
it will also inspire further research on the valsalva mechanism and its relation
to stuttering. [Emphasis added.]
Customer review of Understanding and Controlling Stuttering: A Comprehensive
New Approach Based on the Valsalva Hypothesis (2nd edition) at Barnes
& Noble.com (average as of July 2002- 5 stars out of 5):
*****
T.
(xiomaradasecin@aol.com), September 21, 2001,
A
new life
A few
months ago, I would have rather not graduated college than take the core
requirement of 'communication.'
This
evening, I gave my first oral presentation of my new life. I performed perfectly.
But, most importantly, I was at total ease. This book can change your life
if you're a stutterer. You will actually enjoy speaking. I'm totally confident
that the results will last a lifetime. This book is very well written,
witty, and ingenious. I would also recommend that every speech pathologist
and communication teacher own one. [Emphasis added.]
Excerpts from representative e-mails in response to
Understanding and Controlling Stuttering: A Comprehensive New Approach
Based on the Valsalva Hypothesis:
7/11/00
- From J. K.
I'm reading
your book. It's fantastic. I'm not even finished with it yet and
I'm already noticing a difference in my approach to my
stutter.
8/10/01
- From P. R.
I recently
read your book. I really enjoyed it. You should have been a speech pathologist.
I agree with your thoughts completely.
One
thing I notice when I stutter is that I always feel like I'm choking myself
and I don't know why I make speaking so hard, because you're right,
it's not hard and it should not be hard.
9/12/01
- From J. N. in Africa.
I wanted
to say again that you have greatly enhanced my understanding of the stuttering
problem, especially the problem of blocking. When I first contacted you I
was facing a problem of serious blocks, and as I told you there were so serious
that I would even feel as if I was cutting off oxygen supply to my brain
when I experienced them (the blocks).
After
reading the chapters of your book that you sent me and learning how to release
the blocks and /or not create them at all, I am happy to inform you that
I no longer experience as many blocks as I used to and when they happen they
are not so serious. This however is not to say that I have stopped
stuttering, but from you I have learnt not to try to force out the words,
not to struggle and it seems to be working.
10/20/01
- From R. P.
I thought
I needed to contact you about my experiences after reading your book
"Understanding and controlling stuttering". I would like first to thank you
for the enthusiasm and hard work that comes through in the book and has left
me feeling positive about the future of my speech for the first time in my
life. I , like many other stutterers have tried various methods of control
throughout my life and have felt like a failure for not having resolved my
stutter by the age of 31.
Your
hypothesis about Valsalva Control feels like the first comprehensive answer
that fits my feelings and experiences fully.
2/11/02
- From E. M.:
I wanted
to buy another copy of your book. . . .
The
book is great and helped me a lot.
5/9/02
- From J.S., Towson, MD:
I am half
way through reading your book and love it. This is the most intelligent
explanation of stuttering that I have read. I am a 42-year-old man that stutters.
I speak fluently most of the time and rarely let it prevent me from doing
anything.
I
definitely use the Valsalva mechanism in certain situations.
6/11/02
- From: J. W.:
Mr. Parry,
I received your book last week and have read it. I cannot tell what a value
it already is to me: the sheer volume of information ...
I
have been able to put your "tuning up" the phonation and tuning down the
valsalva mechanism exercises to work already. I am a high school
Government teacher which means I talk for a living.
Today
my fluency was noticeably better. What is most important, the fluency was
noticeably better to me. As you stated in your book, while your
techniques do not cure stuttering, they will make talking a lot easier, more
fun. So true you are. So much less stress, so much less energy expended on
talking.
In the
past, when I would try a new technique and would block, I would feel a failure
-- that the technique was no good -- and very soon would give up. Today when
I blocked I concentrated on relaxing my diaphragm, stretched out the blocking
sound and felt the phonation go to work. Now that is what I call fun.
Thanks
for the book and thanks for the work you have done for us, the "Silent
Minority."
Excerpts from representative e-mails in response to my
Internet article "The Valsalva Mechanism: A Key to Understanding and Controlling
Stuttering" (adapted from my presentation at the World Congress for People
Who Stutter, in Linköping, Sweden, on July 29, 1995):
3/5/00
- From J. Z.
I am 26
years old and have been stuttering for as long as I can remember. . . . I
was surfing the net yesterday and came across an article which was adapted
from a presentation you gave at the World Congress for People Who Stutter
in Sweden. . . . I immediately read the article and was moved by how much
I could relate to the content of it. I kept telling myself
"Yes
that's exactly how it is" or "that's me, that's how I feel."
4/5/00
- From R. H.
I have
been a life-long stutterer. . . . I believe that if you are to "cure" a problem,
you have to identify and believe in that cure. From the moment I read a posting
on the web about your Valsalva Hypothesis, I believed.
It
sounds identical to what I experience when I stutter. It doesn't
hurt that it's written by a stutterer either. It gives genuine credibility
to what is read and perceived.
4/19/00
- From L.
I read
your article, you hit the nail on the head.
This
is the only article that I have ever read that makes sense.
12/6/00
- From T. B. in Athens, Greece
I am a
university student in Athens and a very bad stammerer. I have been struggling
with this condition my whole life and have come close to suicide three times.
Last week I visited your website about the valsalva mechanism and in plain
. . . it is just brilliant.
You
have described everything exactly the way it is.
2/5/01
- From K. W.
I read
your article about the Valsalva Mechanism on the internet about two weeks
ago - and just reading it helped me correct a lot of my
stuttering. I'm 21 years old, and have stuttered since I was about
4 or 5. I saw a speech pathologist all through school - but it didn't seem
to help. Then again, I never had anyone try to find the cause ... they just
tried to stop it.
That
Valsalva Mechanism made total sense to me -- about trying to use
too much force to talk. My best friend always comes over after work to talk
- I told him about your research. Ever since then, I've seen (heard)
a great improvement in my speech. Just sitting and talking with
my friend helped me realise the excess 'force' that I always used when I
talked. I've been conditioning myself not to use such force when I speak
- and for the first time in a long time ... I'm actually feeling good when
I speak. My friend said he couldn't believe that that was all it took. Of
course, I still get stuck here and there - I'm not cured yet - but I've gotten
a lot better. My boss at work even said she's noticed a difference in my
speech and it's only been two weeks. I only wish it was that easy for other
people who stutter.
I know
your article wasn't meant as a treatment - but
I
wanted to tell you that your information really helped me - I've
read a lot about stuttering, and have tried some of the techniques they suggest
- but none have said anything about the Valsalva Mechanism - or trying to
stop the excess force that halts our speech.
I thank
you for writing that article (actually, it was a speech) and
I
hope researchers will look into it - because I believe it could do good
someday.
4/7/01
- From K. J. in Mt. Sterling, KY
I just
ordered your book after reading the outline. I found myself say, "ya he's
right" & "I do that too." I am a dentist in Mt. Sterling, Ky. I consider
myself a severe stutterer. . . . I like you have been to countless speech
programs and therapies.
It
just made a lot of sense to be when I read the outline.
5/22/01-
From S. M. in St. Peter, MN
I am a
musician who, as a child, had a real problem with stuttering. During my adult
years I began to experience a problem starting the first notes of a phrase
on my trombone, a real problem as a professional musician. I developed a
lot of interesting ways to work around the problem, yet it was ruining auditions
and making me a nervous wreck in performances. About 6 years ago it came
to me, that I was using the same protective procedures to avoid the Valsalva
maneuver as a performer as I had in avoiding the stutter.
In
helping students overcome Valsalva I see the linkage over and over
again.
8/10/01
- From J. P.
I am a
33 year old construction worker with a major stuttering problem. I just got
thru reading your web site about stuttering, and
it
really makes a lot of sense. That is exactly the way that I feel when it
happens to me.
12/l/01
- From A. A.
I just
wanted to write to you and let you know that I appreciate the research that
you have done on stuttering and the valsalva reaction. . . . I have read
a few books and articles on this topic, and none of them have made me understand
a reason why I may stutter.
I
tried the examples that you gave to try in the article online about the valsalva
reaction, and it made it very clear. I always wondered why I never
had a stutter when I sing, and you covered that too!
6/6/02 - From:
S. L. in Australia
I have
both read your article and ordered the book from Amazon.
Your
hypothesis rings true. This Valsalva reaction is something I experience every
time I think about talking or do talk (except in totally non stressful
situations, ie very drunk or with certain people etc). I am looking forward
to reading it and applying it. I have a very positive feeling that it will
work. I am already trying to relax my chest and stomach and breath deeply
when I talk and I thinks it [is] helping to not block. I get the feeling
that some words will always be hard, but that without the "chest clamp" nothing
will be impossible.
Last modified July 5, 2002