About the Author: Kunal Mahajan is a life-long person who stutters who has been involved with various disability and mental health non-profits and has been a leading advocate for supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace.  His previous ISAD papers can be found in the ISAD online conferences 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022.

The world we live in is diverse – people from different socioeconomic backgrounds, cultures, geographies.  All of these people have had different experiences and schools of thought.  Our stuttering community is no different which is why I love this year’s theme of “One Size Does Not Fit All”.  This is what diversity is all about.

Diversity can show up in gender, race, sexuality, culture, age, socioeconomic status, disability, geography – do I need to continue to emphasize how many elements of diversity there are?  We often forget that every individual person has a different perspective as it relates to their experience with stuttering due to the diverse body our stuttering community represents.  While we sometimes expect others to see things the way we see them, it can be difficult to accept that people are genuinely different from each of us.

I will be the first to admit that I have a unique stuttering journey.  I am a person of Indian descent who grew up in West Virginia.  Asian cultures are known for not wanting to be as open about disability and West Virginia is not a place where you see many disability initiatives.  This is what led me to have a lot of shame about my stutter growing up and a desire to keep it in the hiding from everyone.  I studied Finance in college and have worked in the competitive banking industry for the past 15 years.  It was those dynamics that led me to want to become a confident public speaker and become a disability and mental health advocate by starting the Disability and Mental Health Employee Resource Group at one of my previous employers.  I was lucky enough to have the financial resources to have speech therapy, attend the National Stuttering Association Conferences, and several internal stuttering clinics over the years.  Each of those experiences has shaped me by giving me access to training, mentors, and stories to help shape how I felt about my stutter and the actions I wanted to take.  Do I believe everyone should pursue the same journey I am on?  Absolutely not as I recognize that others have had different experiences than me!

As someone who has always had a growth mindset, my philosophy towards stuttering the past several years has been we have to continue to push ourselves outside of our comfort zones to grow.  I have embarked on becoming a passionate student and performer in improv because I realized improv is one of the best ways for one to develop their overall communication skills.  My improv journey has progressed as I developed more confidence in myself: 

1. Took my first improv class
2. Took improv classes for 5+ years 
3. Rolled out a Corporate Improv program at my prior company under our Disability, LGBT, and Hispanic Networks as a way to help our colleagues build their confidence and it even became part of the training program for our summer interns and new Analyst class
4. Developed an improv show about disabilities that features improvisers with disabilities and monologists who share stories about their disability called UNIQUE: A Show About Disabilities 
5. Teach workshops for disability non-profits to help the community build their confidence       

In addition to improv, I am constantly taking other classes and certificate programs on communication skills to build my skill sets.  Is it fair for me to expect every person who stutters to embark on making improv and enhancing their overall communication skills to be part of their DNA like I have?  Not at all!  I realize that this is what is important to me for where I am on my own journey and based on my own background.   

Finally, I am passionate about giving back to the next generation of the disability community.  As a Board Member for Camp Words Unspoken, New England’s first overnight camp for youths and teens who stutter, I have witnessed firsthand what I can do to impact these young kids who stutter.  Most of these youths come into camp never having met another person who stutters before, never having been away from their parents, not speaking up in front of people, while tending to be quiet and more reserved.  At this year’s camp, I taught improv to the campers to push them outside of their comfort zones.  While initially everyone was reserved and did not know what to expect, slowly everyone was embracing each of the exercises and looked like they were serious actors!  Each of the kids were laughing the entire time as well doing the exercises and watching their fellow campers playing in these scenes.  I made up and sang a song to everyone about embracing your disability and stutter and being proud of it which they sang along to.  I rolled out a disability training for all the staff to go through so that they would be educated on and have experiences working with kids with different kinds of disabilities.  Do I expect every person who stutters to give back to the next generation of stuttering?  Not at all as I know this is what is important to me for where I am on my own journey and based on my own background.      

Never stop pursuing the journey ahead of you whatever that might look like.  Remember to pause and reflect from time to time.  However, don’t be upset or frustrated if you come across others who do not share your same views about stuttering or on things that you believe people should and should not do.  Remember that people are unique and diverse – just like you are!  Learn to accept each other and continue to share – we can all learn something from each other while still accepting and appreciating each other’s differences.  Never forget about diversity!