Questions
- Are there specific situations in which stuttering increases, or it becomes more difficult for you to speak?
- What was it like trying to get a job? Were you discriminated against or treated unfairly?
- What is something you would tell a child that stutters in order to help them through a time when they are struggling with their stutter and are embarrassed/ don’t understand.
1. Zoom meetings. 🙂 Somehow I stutter way more in video chats. Also when talking to people who are stressed, loud background noise, and when talking to people who I know judge me (not (only) for my speech.
2. My father got me a summer job. They judged me by my work, and I got a permanent job. I never forget when an employee wanted information and when he heared me stutter, he asked for my boss. My boss replied “You’ll need to ask her, because I don’t have time and she knows just as much as me”. One of my changing points where I started to accept myself.
3. keep talking. Stuttering is not your fault, so it’s nothing to be ashamed of. Just because you stutter doesn’t mean what you say is less important. There’s nothing wrong with you. It’s just a bit harder to get the words out. So don’t let anyone make you feel less worth. They might be able to talk faster, but you’re better than them in other ways. So if someone imitates you, just say “you’ll never get as good as I, as I’m an expert in stuttering”. 🙂 I truly hope you, as a clinician, and the child’s parents, can help a child who stutters to feel accepted, loved, and seen for who s/he is as a whole, not judged bu its stutter. And to give the tools to deal with people who don’t understand, and the words to explain what stuttering is, and the courage to talk about it in school, so that others know how they can make it easier to speak.
Stay safe and keep asking great questions
Anita Blom