All our lives, we force ourselves to hide our stuttering as much as we can for the fear of sounding different, “not normal” and “weird”. It can be scary to let people know that we stutter mostly due to the fear of being judged the wrong way. No one wants to talk openly about their weaknesses or vulnerability. However, when it comes to stuttering, that is key to breaking free and accepting it for what it is. When we give ourselves the permission to be open with others, we are usually very pleasantly surprised. Sharing our worries with others can foster understanding and empathy among others. Most people who stutter, however don’t choose to open themselves up to that. In speech therapy, I try to focus on that a lot to allow my clients to feel that acceptance by others and not allow their stuttering to be masked. By masking and hiding it, stuttering takes away all control. Fluency comes from being able to break free and give yourself permission to be ok with it. As we proceed, many come to realize that stuttering is not perceived as bad as we make it out to be. If anything, it can come our ‘superhero’ in more ways than one. Happy Halloween!
Leave a Comments