commentr/StutterJanuary 16, 2017

Content

There is a cure, it's called hard work and confidence and it can only be done by you. I've had a terrible stutter for most of my known life, through primary school all the way to high school and college, now, it's gone. I've been to speech therapists and all that, none worked even in the slightest. I was terrified unto death about all the career prospects I wouldn't be able to do because of my stutter or the social situations I would be in, it would gnaw at my mind the entire day. Thinking about how to say this sentence, scared for that moment when I'm in the spotlight, etc, etc. However I realized, if I wanted to get rid of this stutter I would have to put myself in situation where I would NEED to speak, and speak a lot, to a lot of different people in different situations. I started taking those spots in the class where I had to talk in front of all my class mates, and when I stuttered, I wouldn't change sentence or even the word, just kept going and trying to get out that one particular word as long as it took and as many queer looks as it would take. It's all about confidence and the amount you care about your stutter; so what? Let them wait. Afterwards I took a job where I had to sell monthly subscriptions of charity goals to about 200 random people going door to door three times a week. I had to talk and be confident for hours on end. It didn't go well at first, but after months of talking and putting myself out there, big changes started to occur. And now on this day, most of the time I forget I even have/had a stutter, it happens very, very rarely now and I don't even think about it anymore. If you really want your stutter to go away, you have to actively put yourself out of your comfort zone into social situations and work on your confidence and, just, don't care about your stutter, even if you're still stuttering.

Themes

Coping & AdvocacyIdentity & Disability

Subthemes

Mindset shiftAcceptance & PrideVoluntary Stuttering & Exposure