10/22/2021
Today is International Stuttering Awareness Day. In honor of the day, I want to take some time to reflect on my own evolution and experience with stuttering as both an SLP and person who stutters, and share some of my thoughts with you. Please share this and comment / pm me with your own thoughts or questions about stuttering!
A little background about me: I began stuttering when I was around 5 years old. It runs in my family and is a neurological condition. Even though my stutter is relatively mild most of the time, I used to be profoundly ashamed of it and developed a pattern of "covert stuttering" from a young age where I would go to great lengths to hide my stutter. This took a major toll on my ability to connect with people and stifled my permission to be authentically myself.
It was many years until I discovered that stuttering is not inherently bad, nor does it make me a defective communicator. It's just a little talking hiccup that pops up here and there. And honestly why does it need to be such a big deal and something to eradicate or beat myself up about?! I realized I was actually an extremely competent, articulate communicator, stutter or not, and actually, communication and connection is a tremendous strength of mine! I've spent the last 10 years working as a speech and language therapist and I specialize with helping kids and adults who stutter find their own voices and communicate with empowerment. So that's a bit of my back-story 💃
Here are some of my most recent perceptions about stuttering:
- Lots of folks still don't know lots of basic facts about stuttering. Like the fact that stuttering is biological and not caused by "nerves" or "wrong breathing." We breathe just fine thank you very much! Or the fact that there is no cure for stuttering. I still hear people talking about that celebrity who overcame stuttering or that other poor dude who didn't wanna put in the work to "fix his speech." And I'm like, wow. We still have a ways to go with stuttering education, don't we.
- Perceptions of stuttering are noticeably shifting in the world. It fills me with a ton of hope and faith. There's more and more of a spotlight on stuttering in social media. One awesome example is my friend Marc Winski who is doing fabulous work on tik tok to spread stuttering awareness. His content is educational, inspiring & so entertaining to watch. Check it out: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZM8AaHFQU/
- I think this is so great because as much as the world is evolving around diversity and inclusion, stuttering is taking a while to catch up. I mean, think about it. When was the last time you saw stuttering portrayed in a movie for a regular character? Was it respectful or more stereotypical (porky pig anyone?)
- So yes, to me, awareness is key if we want to effect change. I want kids who stutter to know they are not weak, wimpy, stupid, or even anxious by default of their stutter. I want teens to feel empowered to make an elaborate joke with a great punchline to a group of kids at recess, stutter or not. I want adults to apply for jobs with a sense of ease and confidence, their stutter present or not. I want to feel greater trust and safety with society, that the server at the fast food joint will not automatically laugh when hearing me or my friends stutter while making an order. Spreading awareness will help make our world a better, kinder, more okay place to live in for everyone. So I'm excited about this growing movement!! 🥳
- Here is a question for us all to ponder (if you're still reading this, thank you and kudos 🙏🙏🙏): can we imagine a world where stuttering is viewed in the same way we view language differences or accents? What would it look like if we shed our notions of fixing stuttering and instead just accepted that we're going to have to wait a little longer for some people to communicate, in jobs, restaurants, on the phone, etc? And can we imagine the connection that would come about, the wealth of empowered and freed voices and all they would contribute to this world? Let's imagine it for a moment. I'd love to believe this can happen. ❤💚💜🧡💛
Happy ISAD everyone and love to all.
