> I don't know why I'm so passionately angry about it. I think I'd be passionately angry too. For me, not having my feeling understood, especially by those closest to me, is something I can barely stand. You've tried to tell her that you'd rather speak how you naturally do; this is completely reasonable and, as you may know, quite encouraged by some people who stutter. It's a choice, and it's your choice. She cannot understand how anyone would rather stutter than use "a few breathing techniques" to speak "normally." I don't know if it's her embarrassment, her feeling that somehow your speech is "her fault," or some notion that you're just not "trying hard enough" or are "lazy" about techniques. She's probably a little stubborn and opinionated about other things as well? Maybe not the greatest listener? I wonder if you could write her a letter about how you feel about all of this. I only say a letter because there's no time pressure in a letter, no one answering you back before you've said what you mean, no one derailing you. This is a hard thing for some parents to understand, that their child would prefer to speak as they do naturally than to use techniques. She doesn't stutter, so she doesn't know how artificial and sometimes counterproductive techniques can be for some people. (*Some* people...for other they are a lifesaver.) You want to be accepted by her as you are, and as you are is with a stutter. It may seem like a lack of effort to her on your part not using techniques, but in the end it's more complicated -- yes, spending hours practicing techniques that never feel natural has been an awful pressure on you. But it's also YOUR choice just to accept your speech as it is. You're asking her if she would support you on this, be on your side. The feeling that she's not is painful. (I would stay away from saying the anger stuff at this point; would probably just put her on the defensive.) I don't know her, of course. These are just thoughts, what I might write if I were in a similar situation and I felt there was a chance the person could hear me. But you'd know best if this is a possibility.