Speaking is a learned skill, just like swimming. However, we learned speaking in very early age. Everyone learned this skills without much effort. We even do not know it is learned. Sometimes we just take it as granted. We think it is natural occurrence. However, for a person who stutters, it is a very different story.
Let us talk about swimming. If a person start to swim very early, for example, from two to three years old. When he grow up, he will not remember how he learned swimming. He will not have any memory of choking with water. He think swimming is natural. When somebody was imerged into water, naturally he will be able to float on water. If a grown up is learning to swim, the feel will be very different. He might have learned a lot about swimming in theory. If he was put into water, he will forget all the skills he learned from books. Why? He is in great fear. The fear will trigger the " fight or flight" mechanism. Mussles were tensed greatly. The fear was overwhelming. The fear will totally disable the consciousness mind. What the person could do in water is just struggling, trying hard to not to sink. The effort just offset each other. The more the effort was made, the fast the person will sink into water.
I learned swimming at about 8 years old from a old well in my home town. Actually, it should not be called swimming. I would like say floating. Howver, I am so fear of water when I am swimming. I could not coordinate my swimming with breathing. When I swimming, I just float on water with my head raised very high. I was make great effort to move, howver, I just stay in the same place without going forward, no matter how hard I try. I would feel very tired even I just swam 10 yard. Why I was so tired? I could run for five miles without stop. Why I would feel so tired when I swam just 10 yards? The answer is the fear. The fear of sink, the fear of choke by water, the fear of water used all of my energy.
Let talk about speaking. The fear of speaking of a person who stutters is just like the fear of water of a person who could not swim. This fear just overwhelmingly exausted all the energy from the PWS.
Time out, I will stop here today. I will continue tomorrow.