 About the author: My name is Jeremy Harmon and I am person who stutters. I am a senior in high school and I have two younger sisters. I live in Basking Ridge New Jersey. I Co-Run the Central Jersey National Stuttering Association chapter. I am a huge supporter of advertising your stutter. |
Have you ever wondered what YOU can do to stop being bullied because of your stutter? Each person who stutters (PWS) is his or her own unique snowflake. I went through being mocked and humiliated because of my stutter. I believe that no one should go through the pain of being bullied or discriminated against because of his or her stutter, as I did. Most people who bully PWS are actually good people, however they do not know that what they are doing can really hurt someone else. I decided to start a movement called Speak Up for Stuttering. The goal of the movement is to educate as many people as I can about stuttering. I speak to graduate students at different universities; I write my own programs and lead them for teenagers.
Watch my video for an example
No share or id values provided for youtube shortcode.I believe education is the solution to stop this epidemic of people bullying or discriminating against PWS and other people with disabilities. Education allows the misconceptions about stuttering to be washed away. When you use education you are being the powerful one, not the powerless victim. If someone gives me trouble because of my stutter I will give him or her a brochure or a questionnaire that I developed. Then I will have a dialogue with them and explain to them why they hurt my feelings. I will also make sure to clear up any misconceptions about stuttering that they have. Sharing factual information and your feelings with the bully or a miseducated person is a great way to change their attitude. If you follow these steps I believe you will become a more powerFULL person instead of a powerLESS person.
Thank you Jeremy!! As mom to a 19-year old who stutters and a parent advocate, your words and actions carry so much hope. Where some people might harbor anger and resentment towards people who bully, you exude education and compassion. No doubt this takes the wind right out of their sails! I know you’ll do well! I have a Facebook page for parents (also PWS & speech professionals) called Voice Unearthed and I was wondering if you’d be willing to share your handout with this group? You can email me at voiceunearthed@gmail.com. Thanks!!
Thank you so much for taking the time to read my article! I really appreciate it!!! I will email you everything that I have!
Jeremy, I was fortunate to see you speak to my graduate class about your experiences with stuttering, and I was amazed by your commitment to educating those of us who have little first-hand experience with stuttering, but I was even more impressed with your effective presentation in front of a group of strangers. I know very few high school students who would are so confident and compelling speaking about anything, with or without stuttering. I’m certain that I will see you succeed in other forums. My child has communication challenges and I was wondering if you feel that being a person who stutters has affected your relationships within your family? You mentioned that you have two younger sisters. Have your challenges and successes impacted them? Thank you again for sharing your story. I think you are inspirational!
Thank you I really appreciate it!! There was one situation that I had with a tennis coach when he mocked me on the phone. He didn’t apologize to me when I asked him too so he decided to take the easy way out and apologize to my mother. So my mom thinks I should forgive him but he didn’t apologize to me and told me”how dare you accuse me of such a thing”. So there is tension between me and my mom on this issue. My sisters and I get along well with my stutter because I educated them. Thank you so much for reading my article and if you have any questions feel free to ask!
Jeremy, I enjoyed reading your story online and listening to you speak when you came to my graduate class a few weeks ago. I have never met anyone who stuttered before, and I found your presentation to be very informative and helpful. I loved the part in your article when you said that most people who bully PWS are actually good people and they do not know that what they are doing is hurtful. I believe this shows not only your maturity and forgiveness but passion to educate the world about stuttering. Like I said, I never knew much about stuttering before you came to class and I believe this statement in itself shows the need for more education about stuttering to the general population. I was wondering if your Speak up for Stuttering movement had a Facebook page we could “like” or share? Also, I know you talked about your upcoming website in class. Is that running yet?
Keep up the hard work and I wish you all the best!
Thank you so much for your very kind words! I have a Facebook group called speak up for stuttering. The website url is http://www.speakupforstuttering.com
Hi Jeremy,
I’d like to start by saying thank you for sharing your story! As a Speech-Language Pathology graduate student, I found your video and article to be very insightful and informative. Your journey is very inspirational and I feel your movement will not only educate people who do not stutter, but also help people who do stutter overcome any existing fears or uncertainties. As I continue my graduate studies, do you have any advice you feel I should share with any clients I may have who stutter?
Congratulations on all your accomplishments thus far, and I am sure you will continue to succeed in all your future endeavors!
Thank you so much for taking the time to read my article and your very kind words. I would tell your clients the tool advertising is the way to go. They should make a brochure to give out to people or wear a shirt about stuttering. Stuttering is a blessing in my opinion. Whenever your clients tell their friends about their stutter in a direct or indirect way it makes your clients more comfortable with that person and they will stutter less. Having a stutter makes you a stronger person. Tell your clients to practice their techniques and do not hide your stutter. Stuttering is a part of you. Therapy is so much easier when you can accept your stutter.
Hi Jeremy,
Thank you for your inspirational article and video. I grew up as an older sibling of a person who stutters. My little sister had both articulation errors and a severe stutter that really impacted her social/emotional well being. She had few friends and would spend recess and lunch alone. When my sister and I were at school together I would watch as other kids would walk away from her when she was talking. I don’t think the kids knew they were hurting her feelings, I just think they didn’t understand her and didn’t have the maturity or awareness to communicate with someone who was different. I would often be my sister’s voice and “interpret” what she was saying for other children. I think, although I felt I was helping, I should have let her find a way to make friends and communicate on her own. This became clear to me when I went off to college and my sister really blossomed. She was like a different person when I came back to visit. She was confident and outgoing. Now in her thirties, happily my sister is a great communicator, despite her stuttering, and has earned a masters degree and is an educator in NYC.
I really admire how you have so much confidence and are speaking out for stuttering awareness and for educating you sisters. How would you counsel siblings on supporting (but not enabling) their stuttering brother or sister? A camp or workshop for siblings could be really important. What are your ideas?
Thank you so much for your incredible story! So I have two siblings myself and they are too involved. When I catch them filling in my words I tell them please do not do that or if I catch them by accidentally laughing or mocking me I immediately stop them and tell them why I don’t like it. But to answer your question there are organizations out there like National Stuttering Association or Friends. The NSA they run support groups reginonally and siblings can really beniefit for going to meetings so they understand what stuttering is. Friends is a group for kids under 18 who stutter and there families and they have conferences where the whole family gets involved. I actually went to one of there conferences with my sisters and they got a lot out of it. You don’t want to overwhelm them with information though. Another idea which is a good one is if you are a sibling of a person who stutters you can ask them what can i do to help? What don’t you want me to do? Being upfront with a stutterer is another way to help them. Hope this was helpful. If you have any questions or if you want more information please feel free to ask!
Thanks Jeremy. Your insight into siblings and teasing is important. Siblings are so close that they often tease each other in a good natured way about lots of things. I always remember my parents telling me that I could tease my sister- but not about her stuttering. To this day my sister doesn’t like to be teased about anything. She really values kind words and sincerity. I wonder if this stems from her childhood as a person who stutters? Thanks for getting me thinking about all the life long ramifications of stuttering and how people respond to stuttering.
No problem any time. I would say it has 100% to do with her stutter. Stutters are VERY sensitive to being teased. Your sister probably allowed her sensitivity of being teased about stuttering to take over the subject of her being teased about anything. If a stutter gets teased once they go into their own sensitivity bubble and stay in the bubble for an awfully long time. Hope that answered your question! If you have anymore please don’t hesitate to ask!
Jeremy,
Thank you for being an advocate for education to alleviate bullying for PWS. I think that this is an extremely important issue and I admire you for rising to the challenge and taking action. I am a graduate clinician in SLP, and have had experience working with individuals in high school who are PWS and who have experienced bullying because of it. Obviously this is an issue that needs to be addressed! I agree with your ideology that education can allow for misconceptions regarding stuttering to be washed away. Through education I believe that bullying can be reduced and hopefully alleviated for PWS. Thank you for sharing your personal experiences as a PWS who has been bullied, and for bringing awareness to this very important topic!
Natalie Schulz
Thank you so much for taking the time out of your day to read my article! I wish you and your clients success! And if you have any questions feel free to ask.
Hi Jeremy,
I thoroughly enjoyed your article and video and particularly loved the last sentence encouraging people to become powerFULL rather than powerLESS. I was in the graduate class you spoke to a couple of weeks ago and found your passion to be so incredibly inspiring! I lived with a friend in college who had a stutter that wasn’t very severe, but more occasional and with difficulty on particular sounds. I’m embarrassed to admit that I used to fill in her words for her that she stuttered on. I had no idea this was rude and not how to handle the situation. I thought I was helping her by finishing her words since she seemed uncomfortable in the middle of her stutter. However, after hearing how incorrect I was and how much you dislike when people do this to you, I am so glad I was able to have the opportunity to hear and learn from you! Now I know the proper way to handle the situation and will be able to have an open dialogue about it with her. Thank you for sharing your story! Do you have any other advice for me in making sure she’s comfortable when we converse?
I am very happy that you have stopped filling in her words!! That’s really important and I one hundred percent know how hard it is to stop filling in a stutterers word. The other main thing to do is to maintain the conversation at a very slow pace. Stutterers will tend to have trouble with quicker conversations therefore they increase their tension because feel like they have to get the words out quicker. Another thing you can do is make sure you maintain eye contact with the stutterer. If you do all of those things you are doing the right thing. If you have any more questions feel free to ask.
Jeremy,
I completely agree with your assumption that education is the solution to beginning to be able to decrease discrimination amongst young people who stutter. I believe it is always important to be sure your feelings and emotions are heard by those who do hurt you and by talking to them face-to-face and having that dialogue with them will have a great impact because you are standing up for not only yourself but also the entire community of PWS. I also admire your confidence you have when speaking to groups of people. The confidence you elicit makes me hopeful that someday, when I do have the opportunity to work with a PWS, that they will be as enthusiastic about improving their stutter as you are! One question, how do your younger siblings react to your stutter? Do they tease you because they are your family or do they respect your questionnaires and brochures?
Keep on educating people and being your outstanding self!
-Becca
Thank you so much for your very kind words! Trust me I will always be Jeremy no manner what. I have two younger sisters 15 and 10. The 10 year old will sometimes mock me when she gets upset about something but I tell her it really offends me and I would appreciate if you stop. The 15 year old and I are good. When she sees something she will correct someone. THE ONLY ISSUE I STILL HAVE WITH MY SISTERS IS THEY FILL IN MY WORDS! So frustrating. I always correct them though. If you have any more questions feel free to ask!
Hello Jeremy,
Your post is very inspiring! I am a graduate student in Speech-Language Pathology. I see that you speak at different graduate programs and universities, but I was wondering if this is the level you find the most prevalent bullying? I would expect more bullying at a middle school or younger level, but have you found adults to be equally as inclined to bully? Also, another blogger posted about labeling stutter as a “disability.” I noticed you used this word in your post. As an AWS, how do you feel about this term? Thanks again for your post! Appalachian State University would love to hear you speak!
I am a senior in high school. I love speaking to graduate programs however I lead programs to hundreds of teens. I believe adults can be equally as mean or more mean then kids. My tennis coach actually was extremely mean to me about my stutter and he’s in his thirties. Kids are much easier to correct then adults. I find adults that bully me because of my stutter harder to educate.
Everyone interprets stuttering differently. I believe stuttering is a disability because it can “limit people’s activities”. Part of the definition of disability says “limits people’s activities”. I believe some people unfourtnately don’t take part in things because they are afraid of being judged based on their stutter like doing presentations or job interviews. I believe stuttering is a disability that you can overcome. I make sure my stutter doesn’t get in the way of me living my life however there are people that allow stuttering to hold them back in life. I don’t mind when people say stuttering is a disability because in my mind it is. Hope I answered your questions and let me know if you have any other questions.
Thanks so much!
Well done, Jeremy. Thanks for showing us how it’s done!
Thanks do you have any questions for me
Hi Jeremy,
I saw you speak to my graduate class. your story is very inspirational, and shows what can happen if you accept who you are, and let others know that stuttering is not something to be embarrassed or ashamed of. Do you find that most people who become educated about stuttering become more understanding? Or, are there some that do not understand no matter what?
Thank you so much for your kind words! To answer your question 95% of the people can be educated 5% are impossible to educate. I have one “friend” that still doesn’t stop mocking me about my stutter even though I educated him dozens of times. Most people education works. People are shocked about the famous people that stutter like big names like Elvis Presley and James earl jones (voice of darth Vader) I find if I show people my video or hand them a brochure, most people understand me. If you have any more questions feel free to ask!
Hi Jeremy,
I would first like to say how inspirational I think you are. It is amazing to see a high school student advocating and making a difference! I think the message you are sending is an important one. I also love your slogan to become a powerFULL person instead of a powerLESS person. I am an SLP graduate student and I was wondering what one piece of advice you think is most important to share with my clients?
Get yourself out there! Stand up for people that pick on you because of your stutter. Education is the key in my opinion to accept your stuttering. That’s what I would tell your clients. Hope this helped let me know if you have any more questions!
Hi Jeremy,
Thank you for sharing this! It really highlights the importance of education and awareness. I think the video will be very inspiring to other PWS especially those in school. I would be interested to see a copy of the brochure you made!
Visit speakupforstuttering.com
Thank you for your kind words!
Hi Jeremy,
You are such an inspiration! My dad has written two books on bullying and I feel very strongly about finding ways to stop bullying. I think your approach to educate others on stuttering is extremely beneficial and very admirable. I am currently taking a fluency disorders class in graduate school and I took a class on stuttering at the undergraduate level, but to be honest with you, I had no idea that stuttering was so common. I never knew anyone who stuttered until I took my undergraduate level course on stuttering and my professor was a PWS. I think education is a key component to help stop bullying associated with people who stutter.
I do have a few questions for you though. Does anyone else in your family stutter? I have learned that genetics plays a role in the development of stuttering but not in every case. When did you come up with the idea to make a brochure and questionnaire? Do you go to other organizations (outside of a school) to educate people on stuttering? If so, where? Did you see a speech therapist when you were younger and if so, are you still seeing one? What helped you get to where you are now, being able to speak in front of a large group of people?
Thank you again for sharing your story!
Chrissy
Thank you so much for taking the time to read my article. No one in my family stutters except my grandfather which stutters because of a stroke. I stutter because of my epilepsy. I was bullied very terribly in 8th grade-10th grade. When the bullying finnaly stopped I decided I needed to take action and not stand their in silence and feel powerless. That’s when I decided to make my brochure and my Q and A. I still see a speech therapist still, I have been always doing speech therapy. I have done a program for teens through my Jewish youth group BBYO which reached 100 people. I also led a program at my Summer Discovery pre college program at UT @ Austin which reached 200 people. I also speak to a lot of college graduate classes like Kean university, centenary college and Montclair state university. I LOVE doing presentations for hundreds of people. After I did my first presentation at Kean university I knew this was for me. I was meant to do this and make an impact in the world. If you want more information check out my website speakupforstuttering.com
I hope I answered all of your questions. If you have anymore please feel free to ask or shoot me an email.
Thank you for your article and video Jeremy!
I found your story inspirational. I was wondering who you considered your inspiration to be and what type of support/role models were available to you as you began to address the problem of bullying. What do you think of using your philosophy of the power of education to prevent bullying for those with other disabilities?
I actually consider the people that bullied my inspiration. It sounds a little weird but they were the ones that forced be to find a way to educate other people. I have been inspired by Emily Blunt, Joe Biden, Lazaro Arbos, and Ed Sheeran because of how they overcame their stutter or how they have learned to accept their stutter. I felt so powerless when I was bullied and cried about it that it was time to stop the pain and educate the world about stuttering and bullying. My way of presenting people with facts and telling the bully how you feel should really work for any victim of bullying. Bullies also have feelings too, the challenge is just finding a direct path to their feelings. Everyone has some good in them, that is a fact. I believe education is the solution to ALMOST every problem. You can only educate 95% of the bullies the other 5% ignore them they wte not worth your time. That’s my philosophy! Hope I answered your question. If you have anymore feel free to ask.
Hello Jeremy,
Thank you! I really enjoyed reading your article and watching your video! I feel your words on educating bullies is relevant for all of us. I love how you say that even bullies have some good in them. I can imagine it is hard to see the good in people who bully others. However, by seeing the good in others I feel that enables you to reach out and care to educate them on your stutter in order to make a difference! I am surprised how many teachers treated you in such an offensive way. So many meaning any teachers at all!! Having a sports coach mock you or a teacher skip over your thoughts in class must have been hard for you. Have you had problems with teachers often? If so, do you find they are willing to read your pamphlet like your English teacher? Or do many of them become offended and/or defensive like your tennis coach did? Do you find once you have educated bullies and even teachers that they are more willing to help spread the word on stuttering to other classmates and staff members? Thank you so much for your post! Your words on how to approach bullies are wonderful and open my eyes to the power of education surrounding bullying and their mistreatment of others who may have a disability.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read my article. My goal is to educate as many people as I can about stuttering. I do sometimes have issues with teachers but nothing as extreme as that English teacher. Once a teacher took off points on my presentation because of my fluency. She got very defensive and said she would never take points off because of my stutter. How truthful is that? I will never know I have had teachers that fill in my words or don’t make eye contact with me because of my stuttering, those are very minor things. When I do educate teachers about my stuttering I will have a conversation with them about it and they will read my brochure no manner what because I give it to them at the beginning of my conversation. When I start educating teachers about my stuttering I introduce the conversation with my brochure. For the most part teachers and adults are understandable. Unfourtnately when I educate teachers and bullies about my stuttering they do not go out and spread awareness however my website speakupforstuttering.com people have been telling other people about it. So honestly it depends. If I educate adults not including teachers or coaches they tend to spread some awareness of stuttering. Hope I answered all of your questions! If you have anymore feel free to ask.
Hi Jeremy!
I was recently able to see you speak during one of my graduate courses about your experiences with stuttering and was amazed at how confident and devoted you are to educating the public about stuttering. First, I want to say thank you! What you are doing is amazing! I know you mentioned that you have experienced some difficulties with your own teachers. I’m glad your brochures have helped many of them! What are some things that your teachers can do to help you participate in class without any restrictions?
Thanks,
Chelsea
Thank you so much for taking the time out of your busy day to read my article. Teachers can call on me when my hand is raised. The biggest thing they can do to help me participate in class is NOT TO FILL IN MY WORDS!!! That really ticks me off when teachers do that. Teachers can also give me there undivided attention to me when I am taking meaning to give me full eye contact. The last thing they can do is slow down the conversation, so speaking slower or giving me more time to answer a question. Hope I answered your question! Feel free to ask any more questions if you have!
Hi Jeremy,
I very much enjoyed reading your article. I also had the pleasure of hearing you speak in one of my graduate school courses. I feel that each step you take in your initiative to spread awareness will have an impact on someone, somewhere, and I commend you for the amazing work you are doing.
Before returning to school for speech pathology I worked in marketing. The heart of marketing is communication- much like that of speech pathology. I wanted to share with you something I learned in my previous career as I feel it may be helpful to you in your endeavors. I learned that no marketing is bad marketing if it gets noticed. For example, if a company creates a commercial that got a ton of negative feedback for what it has created, then was it really a ‘bad’ commercial? Perhaps the content was ‘bad’, but its goal of getting the company noticed was achieved. Though you seem you are more than capable of rising above the bullies, know that even though it may seem like they are not absorbing or understanding the information you are trying to present, you are still achieving awareness. You are still getting your message to them and whether they like it or not, the information gets into their heads. It is then up to them to decide what to do with that information.
In addition to speaking at colleges and creating programs for high school students, have you thought about expanding your efforts to middle schools? I think your knowledge and experience may be really helpful there. Bullying is a big problem in our schools and it starts pretty young! Thank you for sharing!
Thank you so much for your kind words!! I actually want to be a marketing major myself so I can definitely relate to that analogy. I am definitely going to get my message out to middle schoolers in a more fun way. I will make my education into a program format instead of a lecture. Hope that answered your question! If you have any more please don’t hesitate to ask!
Hi Jeremy,
Like everyone else above, I really admire your courage to stand up and speak out for people who stutter! The positive energy you have brought out with your talk, videos, and written material has been contagious. I found the Q&A very easier to digest although I am already way past my teenage years. Keep up the good work!!
Thank you so much! I won’t stop educating until I have educated everyone about stuttering and bullying!!
Hi Jeremy,
Your story is truly inspiring. I really respect the way you advocate for yourself and other people who stutter. Instead of sitting back and doing nothing or fighting back against your bullies in a negative way, you really found a positive way to make a difference. I think it’s great how you target the teenage population because that is where the most bullying can take place. I appreciate how you took the teenage population into consideration while creating your handout. Many resources about stuttering can be long and confusing to people who aren’t aware of it. The handout you created is the perfect way to educate people in a fast, simple way. I will definitely remember your story as I begin my career as a speech-language pathologist and share your thoughts with clients who may be going through the same thing. Thanks again for sharing!
Anytime!! Thank you so much for taking the time out of your day to read my article!
Hi Jeremy,
Thank you for sharing your inspiring story and for educating others on the topic of stuttering. I am a graduate student studying to become a speech-language pathologist. I am currently taking a fluency disorders course. Recently, we had a class discussion regarding how people react to stuttering. One concept that we addressed in this discussion was the strange ways that people respond to stuttering. For instance, some individuals use humor or laugh when their conversation partner stutters. I am interested in hearing why you believe people may react this way. Do you think it is a byproduct of being uneducated on the topic of stuttering? Thanks!
Thank you so much for taking the time to read my article. I think people laugh because they are uneducated. They don’t know how to react to a stutterer. The listener feels “awkward”. By educating the listener they know how to act to a person who stutters.
Hope I answered your question if you have anymore questions please feel free to ask.
Hi Jeremy,
Thank you for sharing your story and video. I think it is inspirational that you are taking the initiative to educate and be proactive amongst your community. As a future Speech Pathologist, I feel that hearing testimonies such as yours can truly have a positive impact on the lives of other PWS, especially teenagers. You are going to do great things!
I hope to work with children and adolescence in the future, and I hope you have a moment to answer my question. Are there any motivational tips you can share that I can give to clients that are the young and struggling with their stuttering?
Thank you,
Kristin
I have all the time in the world to answer your questions! Thank you for your kind words and I know you will be a very successful SLP! Your stuttering will get better. There’s a light at the end of the tunnel. Stutterers are all a different snowflake. Stuttering is a blessing because you can tell that immediately who’s your friend and who’s your not. You are not the only person who stutters in the world: Elvis Presely, James Earl Jones, Emily Blunt, Joe Biden and Ed Sheeran are just a couple of celebrities that have had to cope with their stuttering. That’s what I would tell your client!
Jeremy,
You are so courageous and such a great advocate for teens, adults and children who stutter. You insight on bullying and what to do as a person being bullied is fantastic! I am a graduate student for speech-language pathology and very much admire your public speaking abilities. I am not that great in front of an audience and I find your abilities to keep calm while public speaking and to share your journey such an inspiration. Thank you for sharing and thank you for your insights in how to help others! I have read other posts where the author or PWS is quite tired of the SLP’s sympathy or consolations, even though it is well meaning. What advice would you give to a future SLP who do not want to unintentionally offend PWS?
Thank you so much for your very kind words! I really appreciate it! I would make your therapy around the clients agenda not what you want to accomplish with your client. My speech therapist let’s me run the session. You will not offend your client if your client is the one running the session. Always make sure you talk to your client only in a positive manner! If your client has trouble in a speaking situation ask him or her why this happened. How did you feel? Make your therapy very behavioral. Hope this helps! If you have any more questions feel free to ask!
Hi Jeremy,
I’d like to start by saying thank you so much for coming to my class to speak! It was so interesting to hear your experiences first hand. A gentleman just was hired at my job who stutters! What can you suggest I do to make his work environment a friendly, accepting one!
Thank you so much for listening to me when I talked to your class! So helping people who stutter in a non therapeutic way is tricky. You have to be careful! Couple of things to consider:
1. Is this person open with there stutter
2. How severe is there stutter?
3. How much attention does he want drawn to his stutter?
4. Does he even want your help?
When you take those things into account make sure:
1. That no one fills in your co workers words!
2, Make sure your co worker is not discriminated in the workplace because of his or her stutter.
3. Make sure your co worker is not mocked about this stutter.
If you do all of these things your co worker will be just fine! Make sure you consider all of those questions. Hope this helped! If you have anymore questions feel free to ask and if you need help with anything you can always shoot me an email.
Hey Jeremy,
I really appreciate you standing up for yourself and others that stutter. It is so important to advocate for yourself and be strong. I can only imagine the amount of courage that would take, and I give you so much credit for having the will power to do it.
Thank you,
Jordan
Thank you so much I really appreciate it!! Trust me it took so much courage to start the Speak up for stuttering movement. If you have any questions feel free to ask!
Look at you go, Jeremy! Bullying seems to be such a hot topic lately. Standing up for anything, let alone something that most people don’t really understand, such as stuttering, can be difficult. Standing up for yourself and bringing awareness to stuttering will continue to be a benefit to other people who stutter, as well as others who may struggle with misunderstood hardships.
Way to be such a courageous advocate for something that affects you personally .
Thank you so much for your extremely kind words! If you have any questions please feel free to ask!
Hello Jeremy,
I am currently a graduate student in SLP and am in the middle of my semester of learning about fluency disorders. I admire your courage to stand up and advocate for yourself and other PWS by using the path of educating others about stuttering. Best of luck to you in your future!!
Thank you,
Kari
Thank you so much!! Wish you the best of luck in the future with your career of being an SLP!
Hello Jeremy,
Thank you, I really enjoyed watching your video. It has given me a great insight into the condition of stuttering and listening to your story was so educational and interesting. All the best for the future,
Lucy
That’s the goal of my speak up for stuttering movement!!
Jeremy,
You my friend are amazing! And I don’t even know you! If you could give one piece of advice to a future SLP who will be working with school-age children who stutter, what would it be?
I have heard of some SLPs going into elementary classrooms and doing a powerpoint about stuttering and including the child who stutters in this presentation. So far I have only hear positive things about this, that is brings awareness and gives children the chance to ask questions. What do you think?
Thank you so much!! Nice to meet you! Stuttering is a blessing, you can tell automatically tell who’s your friend and who’s not! That’s what I would tell your client! I believe power points aren’t affective when educating teens or children. They are boring and most kids find that boring. If a child was going to go out and giving a presentation I would present a program that involves everyone in your audience like stuttering jeapordy, everyone has to stutter there name or true false. Every one of those should involve a candy give away. Hope this helps and I hope I answered your question. If you have anymore please feel free to ask!
What a great idea!!!! Thank you. I so appreciate your time in responding!
Hi Jeremy,
I also enjoyed your video. This is the second time I’ve seen it as I was in the graduate class you recently spoke at. Aside from the point of the video (to educate) this video and your personality also serve as a motivator to be optimistic and hopeful. I respect how hard you’ve had to work to accept and even appreciate yourself. I’ve seen you around campus a few times since you’ve spoken and I don’t think I’ve ever seen you frown. You definitely are the perfect person to drive the goal you’re trying to achieve! Keep going, you’re doing great!
Thank you so much!! I really appreciate it!! I know you will become a great speech language pathologist and make an impact in the world like I am!
Hi Jeremy,
Thank you for taking the time to share your experiences and educate others about your stutter. A few weeks ago, you had shared your very inspiring stories and experiences with my graduate class. I could not believe that you are just in high school! Your presentation was very professional and I admired your obvious dedication to spreading awareness to all.
Sometimes I wonder, do you think that some individuals bully those that stutter because they are fearful of them? Maybe it is what you said, and that most people are not educated enough with it, and because the stutter is different to them they become fearful or intimidated and react by bullying. This is why I feel what you do is so awesome. Keep being the amazing person that you are!
Thanks again,
Katie
Thank you so much for your very kind words!!! I would say people bully stutterers because they don’t know how to accept them into society! People who stutter sound very different to fluenters. Fluenters are confused, they have no idea what to do therefore they turn to bullying to avoid a “awkward” social experience. Hope I answered your question! If you have anymore questions please feel free to ask!
Jeremy,
Thank you so much for sharing your story and mission. It is very inspirational to see you stand up against bullying and work to educate others about stuttering. In your life who/what do you believe helped you become open and embrace your stuttering?
Kaylie
Thank you so much; I really appreciate it! To be honest with you being bullied help me open up about my stuttering. Instead of being humiliated I decided to stop it and start educating. People that inspired me were famous people like Joe Biden, Lazaro Arbos. Ed Sheeran. My best friend also told me I had to stand up for myself and my speech therapist told me I should take action because she knew I can make a difference in the world. Hope this answered your question and if you have anymore please feel free to ask!