what was your biggest support?
Good morning, my name is Elizabeth. Understanding that everyones experience with stuttering is different based upon personal experiences, what would you say helped you become empowered? AND would you say growing up with stutter was neutral or had a negative affect. At what moment do you feel you gained control of your narrative?
Good mornign Elizabeth! very good questions! For me personally, growing up with a stutter was super hard, because I was sure that the only option was to conceal it. I actually had to empower myself eventually because I realized that I had to accept myself or stay miserable for the rest of my life. I feel I gained control of my own narrative as soon as I realized that I had a choice – then I chose to accept and be more compassionate about myself.
Hi Elizabeth and thank you for your question.
There are two key moments in my relationship with my stuttering:
1) when I started reading books on the subject;
2) when I joined stuttering communities and groups.
I started reading books on disability studies, by authors such as Tom Shakespeare, Lennard J. Davis, Alison Kafer, and Eli Clare. This opened me to a totally different perspective on stuttering and made me discover the social model of disability, and to read books and articles by Joshua St Pierre and Christopher Constantino.
This also allowed me to understand the importance of being part of a community. Since then I have been an active member of several groups and this has made me stronger and more aware of myself. I have met a lot of friends and role models, who have helped me to regain ownership of my life.
Hope this helps.
Andrea
Hi Elizabeth,
thank you for your question.
Growing up I was full of shame and fear about my stuttering and I became covert at an early age, I reckon around 8 years old. I remained covert for most of my life and most people would not have heard me stutter openly, although I did use tricks to hide my stutter that I now realise may not have been as well hidden as I thought at the time.
What changed things for me was when my youngest daughter began stuttering at 3 and I had to come to terms with her stuttering. What inspired me to change my attitude to my own stutter was 1) seeing her accept her stutter and 2) realising that I needed to be a role model for her. So, when she was 8 or 9 – she is now 24 and still stutters -I began speech therapy for the first time in my life and over a period of many years, I learned to accept not only that I stuttered but that I am okay even when I stutter.
I also found being part of the stuttering community both in my own country, Ireland, and connecting with people in other countries a huge benefit in embracing the amazing group of people who stutter.
Veronica