"scanning speech" stuttering

[2nd generation MS survivor]

Has anyone experienced this is so what treatment worked for you and how long did it last? I'm doing steroid infusions they help a little Durning and after infusions but I wake up each day with stuttering. I'm on day three of five. All knowledge and experiences welcome. I know everyone is different but I'd like to her your stories on this. Thanks and God bless

[AlignedOP]

By scanning speech do you mean looking for words?

[2nd generation MS survivor]

No not word searching. It is more like a very pronounced stutter. Not fishing in complete sentences hard time starting sentences harsher letters are hard now my thoughts are in stutter our what is called scanners speech

[rdmc]

If you're having problems with your speech (or swallowing or cognition, specifically looking for words, etc) get a referral to a speech therapist....they're the ones that assess speech.

I'm not sure what scanning speech is, either. I slur, and sound like I've had one too many

Hope you find a good speech therapist...they're very specifically trained to deal with these sort of problems.

[SunshineDaydreams]

YES

I had two weeks of not being able to get anything out of my mouth but some strange nonsense noises (or some language I didn't know I knew

After this, I had very strange speech - described by one of my neuros as choppy and missing pronouns. He said this was psychosomatic....

Steroid therapy got me talking again, but most people say I've never talked right since. Every now and then the nonsense comes out when I try to say what's in my head.

My daughter actually signed us up for sign language classes because of this

[2nd generation MS survivor]

Thanks that helps alot. The steroids only seem to work during infusions and that got a short time after tomorrow us my last day of infusions but I'm hoping it gets better. Thanks so much

[Marco]

I am sorry you are dealing with this. I know how frustrating it can get. I start to feel like I am stupid when I cannot express a thought without garbling it up.

My speech problems started with the onset of a significant flare. The problems are more pronounced when stressed or anxious. For me, my breathing gets erratic and I run out of breath before a sentence is completed so it comes out as a fragment. Even though others tell me they can understand me, it sounds choppy to my ears and the more I listen to myself the more confusing it gets.

This is usually not a word block issue unless I am exceptionally frustrated and my mouth is uttering the last sentence and my brain already moved on to the next one.

I worked with a speech therapist for a while, but the situation largely resolved itself one morning. Like my flare relented in some way. My speech is NOT back to the way it was, but it is definitely improved. I asked the therapist if anything we had been working on could have been responsible for the improvement and she said, "No."

When in groups my wife rescues me when my speech starts to go and this gives me an opportunity to recover.

Trying singing a familiar song and see what happens. I found the more familiar I was with a song the better I could sing it without word issues.

You can also try ear plugs and see if they make a difference. You may find that not being able to hear yourself changes your speech for better or for worse.

[Thinkimjob]

When I'm tired or I've been standing up for too long (for "too long", read 2 minutes) I have trouble finding words. I can find the sentence, I know exactly what I to say, I just can't say all of it.

It seems to me its because I'm using all my valuable energy on other things, like holding the wall, dealing with noise, light, visual distractions and basically not falling over.

I'm okay eyes closed, sitting quietly.

[2nd generation MS survivor]

Wow that helps alot it is funny cause I can sing still .those are all Good tips thanks again

[SunshineDaydreams]

I forgot to tell you that - When I have really bad bouts of this - it is funny because I can sing ('cept, um - I can't sing ) and I can whisper. The weirdest thing though - I can speak Spanish.

I can't figure this out - but was at the market one day during my bad two week bout and someone bumped me and said 'excuse me' in Spanish - I just answered her and we had a little exchange. My husband just looked at me - haha

The only thing I can figure is that I learned Spanish many years after English??? Problem is, I don't remember enough of it to really function in another language ... I'll stick to whispering or sign

[Marco]

Find a speech therapist in your area. They can assign you exercises to work on your breathing, voice control, intonation, etc. One of my exercises was to do was say "me, my, mow, moo" in a monotone voice and single breath. I spent hours repeating "me, my, mow, moo" until "me wanted to mow over a moo with my car."

For homework I had to create sentences with words that started with the letter M.Try these:

- Monday morning meeetings make me moody.
- Maggie Moo's makes marvelous malted milkshakes.
- Mickey Mouse moved Minnie's Maserati.

I continue to work diligently on my exercises and it has paid off. There are times when I still struggle and my counselor helped me come up with a strategy for those moments.

I simply told the person:
I have multiple sclerosis and may need a little extra time to speak or respond to your questions.

I memorized this phrase, could even "sing" or whisper it if necessary. Every time I have used that phrase the other person accepted it and most encouraged me. That really helps me from freaking out especially when answering a series of questions.

I really would encourage you to find a speech therapist and work on improving. I no longer feel "dumb" or "stupid" when speaking and when I do struggle I have tools to help me break through.