About the Author:Pamela Mertz is a person who stutters who is actively involved in the global stuttering community. She is a past Board member of both the International Stuttering Association, and USA National Stuttering Association. She blogs at www.stutterrockstar.com and hosts the popular podcast “Women Who Stutter: Our Stories.” She was inducted into the National Stuttering Association Hall of Fame in 2022.

Stuttering comes in shapes and sounds

Some are fat and some are loud

Maybe it’s a minor nuisance 

Or something of which we are proud

 

Proud, you say? How can that be?

We’re often laughed at, then feel shame

It’s hard to stand up and speak

When feeling we have to play a game

 

Stuttering is not just one size or shape

It’s who we are and how we talk

We need to persist and not back down

And talk our talk and walk our walk

 

People want different things 

Maybe therapy to learn some tools

Or meeting others who stutter too

So we’re not alone as we figure out the rules

 

Stuttering is hard, it can tire us out

How the world reacts is sometimes tough

Try as we might, and try we do

It can seem impossible to feel enough

 

Assumptions and myths about how we talk

Make us feel different and misunderstood 

Many people don’t know someone who stutters

Or if they do, they see stuttering as less than good

 

We can change that by not holding back

By speaking up when it’s our turn

We can teach the world to nurture difference

It’s up to us to help them learn

 

One size does NOT fit all

That goes for everything, for all of us

Every one of us has a “thing” 

Life would be easier if we stopped the fuss

And just listened with open ears and heart

To everything, even the occasional cuss!