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Disclosure — 2 Comments

  1. Thank you for the interesting questions!

    I stutter in nearly all situations, and in nearly all sentences. So when I first meet someone, invariably my stuttering is obvious immediately.
    In my case, therefore, I wouldn’t call a mention of my stuttering “disclosure” – since it is almost always “disclosed” immediately.

    I sometimes mention my stuttering in conversations – whether it is a new person or not – if I can find a positive context to it in the natural course of a discussion. An example might be to mention my attending a recent national or international stuttering conference, or my plans to attend one in the near future. Another example might be how my wife first found me at an early stuttering-related website.

    In the distant past, I intensively practiced fluency shaping techniques, which enabled me to experience long periods of fluency, lasting for weeks or months. In those days, I usually made it a point to mention early in a conversation, when meeting som spend soeone new, that I was using specially practiced techniques to maintain fluent speaking. I always felt more comfortable if the other person was aware that I was a person who stuttered, so that I wasn’t in the position of hiding my stuttering.
    But eventually, I decided that the intensive and daily efforts that I needed to maintain consistent fluency in the long term, just were too much. Now I simply and calmly accept that I happen to be a person who stutters. Life became much less pressured and more pleasant when I decided to no longer spend so much of my time and constant effort in maintaining the illusion of being a normally fluent speaker.
    Since I no longer practice fluency shaping techniques, I now stutter almost everywhere, and with almost everyone. Therefore there is no reason to “disclose”, as people always know I’m a person who stutters.

    I find that when I do make an occasional mention of my stuttering, in a positive context, I feel more comfortable. Stuttering then becomes a matter-of-fact part of who I am, a disorder that I happen to have. It is not then a taboo subject, and not the “elephant in the room” that no one dares to mention or talk about. With casual mention of something stuttering-related, stuttering becomes something that “just is”. It is there, and there is no need to avoid mentioning it, if there is a natural context for mentioning it in the course of a conversation.

    I hope this has helped to answer your questions!

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