Talking...

[Pooky]

however my last bosses had the misfortune of banking with HSBC and they'd often go around in circles with these call centres using set scripts and completely unable to deal with their specific problem. Give me a straight talking Scottish accent, friendly Irish accent or prim and proper home counties accent to deal with any day!

Been there done that, I just asking to speak to an English person now when I ring HSBC and I get transferred.

I can't understand accents very well on phones at all, and people can't understand me too well.

Normally ends up being quite frustrating, and I am sure they think I am thick when I ask them to repeat something several times.

[Philip]

An interesting thread

I have the same problem about speaking properly - once or twice I have been told to shut up unless I can speak properly

I also get tired of sometimes having to repeated myself because the person cannot always understand me

I do not see it is my problem, I think some people may not fully understand and one or two people in the past have confused me

I may be going to speech therapy to help me

People do not always listen

[Miss Jayney]

I don't have any problems with annunciation - i'm lessed with rather clear diction - thugh i have a tendancy to speak too fast when excited and also t get confussed if i'm not concentratng with who ina group was speaking or who i'm supposed to be paying attention to -whch causes some problems- i dunno about anyone else but i also have ssues judging when it's my turn to speak - never being able to getright what's just a pause and what's the end of someone's speech.

[SavV]

Oooooh annunciation! I like big words. I don't tend to use them in conversation all that often as I'm likely to screw them up.
As to speaking to fast, I am forever getting told to slow down, or to talk quieter because I'm being too loud. I don't notice that I'm being too loud. Many a person has told me to shut up unless I can talk properly, which - as you probably know - isn't all that nice.
Same again for timing, I often mistake a pause in someones speech for the end of their turn in the conversation.

Hehehehe, funnily enough my talking was recently compared to that of Homestar Runner. Which I find rather amusing actually. In fact I think he might be dyspraxic actually, have a look at this http://homestarrunner.com/firsttime.html Theres an aweful lot of cartoon that can be had from the main page at http://www.homestarruner.com

Anyway, I think I've deviated enough for the moment. Is interesting to hear about everyone else's experiences with speech!

Cheers,
SavV

[donnaf]

People always used to comment on how fast I spoke to the point I spent a lot of time teaching myself to slow down...this was before I knew I was dyspraxic.
I often start sentences shouting then catch myself or see the look on people's faces n quiten down Other times my voice seems to get drowned out by other people's.
People also have trouble understanding me if I have to spell somethin out on the phone, ...this happened only yesterday. Not sure if its my speech or my broad blackcountry accent tho....I do TRY to speak really clearly!

[rah]

i think i have more of a probelm with speaking to quietly rather than shouting.

i also seem to have problems with some vowels in words, for instance when i say rug i pronounce it roog, and i know it's not my accent as no-one else in my family does it.

i've built up a bit of a list of words that i avoid using because i get so embarrassed when people either don't understand me or tease me for "saying things wrong".

[Daniel]

I seem to have really mixed up pronunciation. I don't really have a typical local accent for where I'm from, and my accent's been identified as anything out of: northern, southern, posh, or from about a half-dozen or so foreign countries, depending on who I speak to! I also vary between scon and scone, EEther and EYEther, and many more besides. However it's all the *other* issues mentioned before that are the real problems for me.

[Miss Jayney]

I'm glad i'm not the only person who speaks too loud on occasion! I'm forever getting cussed for it - only I don't seem too loud to me :s oops.

I also have a really unidentifiable accent - sort of "posh" but not really andnot specifically belonging to anywhere. People always kep asking where i'm from :s

[Shadwell]

well I do sound a bit welsh/posh'ish, but yet people still ask where am I from, as there doesn't seem to be an identify-able accent there!

and that is from people that have lived in Bridgend all their lives! so might be something to do with being dyspraxic.

as for speach therapy, then my parent's taken me for about 2 weeks when I was little, but then stopped as they thought my speach was actually getting worse not better.

and ended up in arguements after going for a session. so can't say too much about that!

[missjosephine95]

Hi all,

I came across this thread by googling, "dyspraxia and forgetting words", as i forget words, i lose my train of thought, for quite a long time sometimes, and its very frustrating. so glad i know it's not just me!!!!

love to u all. xxx

[LGC2108]

I attended speech therapy when I was younger, and learnt most of the different sounds, but never learnt how to pronounce "f" and "th" differently, pronouncing them both as the "f" sound.

[Panicfish]

First post, yes!

Re: talking - oh SO much. Struggled with a stammer as a child which isn't so bad now, but my words still come out jumbled and I often can't control the pace or volume of my speech - I talk so fast! People who know me really well often have to translate what I've said for other people who haven't understood. I hate it when I get told off for mumbling - I'm not being lazy, just having a dyspraxattack!

[sp17]

I'm exactly that person

I only recently got diagnosed but all my life I was aware of my speech, which has led to anxiety and although most people would say I speak very well however if you spend time with me on day to day basis like at work you can see my stutters, forgetfulness of words, day dreaming, pronunciation errors etc..

Has anyone had any success with speech therapy? This is something that really holds me down from being vocal in my area of work and expressing myself clearly because i just cant find the correct word

[Jim]

I think speech difficulty combined with "sensory overload" is one of the most annoying aspects of my dyspraxia. It's annoying because it's a constant thorn in my self esteem.

I had speech therapy for a few years when very young, and went through the inevitable bullying at school because it was obviously too difficult for other kids not mock the one who speaks differently, so yeah my school years were a blur of mis pronunciation, stuttering, stammering and getting accused of having a "lisp" which actually I don't have.

When not under pressure... I can speak prefectly fine, sure it's not the height of show piece articulation but it's otherwise non mock worthy.

But it's when I'm under pressure, eager to get a word in edgeways when other people won't shut the blooming heck up, or when I'm otherwise anxious due to auditory/sensory overload when words get all jumbled up and come out all incomprehensible.

But I don't get this notion that it's a Dyspraxic trait to speak too loud, quickly or to interupt. As far as I'm concerned it's nonsense. In my experience non dyspraxic or people without speech difficulties are just as guilty (if not more so) of speaking too loud, too quickly, interupting or speaking over overs.

And actually if you're a more confident speaker then your're more likely to do that anyway. If you're less confident because of the difficulty, then you're more likely to simply keep your mouth shut.

This quote from earlier in the thread sums it up perfectly for me...

I can't ever seem to get a word in edgeways - when I think it's my turn to speak, someone will speak over me,

That's me to a tee, I wait for what seems like for ever for an opening or a pause in the conversation to have my say.. but before I'm even three or four words into my first sentence I'm being spoken over! It's annoying, because you've given the other people courtesy of listening to them and not speaking over them, you've waited for them to finish, but they have to immediately cut you down when it's your turn to speak. It's infuriating.

But what's even worse is when those people who keep speaking over you, then ask you why you're being so quiet.. and you wonder how you can tell them that the reason you're not saying much is because they won't shut their own gob long enough to give you the chance.

Anyways.. rant over