What does stamily really mean? – Stamily

About the Author: Stamily is the merge between family and stammering/stuttering. We want to bring together people who stutter as a family. There is nobody who understands your stutter better than people who stutter as well. We hope to spread awareness about stuttering by producing and sharing blogs, vlogs or other stuttering-related content. We want to give everyone the possibility to contribute and share their voice with the world.

A video from the team behind Stamily, a world narrated by people who stammer (https://stamily.org/). Stamily produces blogs, videos and other media, but what does Stamily actually mean to those involved? Watch the video to find out!

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Comments

What does stamily really mean? – Stamily — 27 Comments

  1. This was a fun video to make and see the final result. Thanks for allowing me to participate in both the video and the Stamily.

    • Thanks for contributing! It was a really fun video to edit, as everyone sent amazing videos and I could see lots of themes emerge.

      Looking forward to working more with Stamily in the future as well!

  2. Dear Stamily, this is a wonderful video about community, support and empowerment for people who stutter. I’ll be sharing this video with many of my friends and students.

  3. Wow. great job my Stamily friends. Keep on being an inspiration for people who stutter.

    • Thank you! We hope to keep going and keep growing Stamily. Please let us know if you have any ideas of what you would like to see. -Lynne (Stamily)

  5. Great videos! Thanks for creating this, and for all that stamily.org is doing to raise awareness about stuttering.

    Hanan

  6. The video was very powerful as is the concept of building an international community to support people who stutter. What words of advice do you have for a person who stutters who has not yet reached out to anyone else who stutters? What has changed in your life as a result of being an active member of the stamily?
    Thanks for sharing!
    Sarah

    • My personal advice for someone who didn’t yet reach out to anyone else who stutters is that it is never too late to do so! I also waited 25 years of my life to do so. I am now 1 year involved in the ‘stutter world’ (same moment we started Stamily) and this gave me a big step towards acceptance of my stutter. This is due to the fact that I really understand now that I am not alone and stuttering is just one little part of me, besides all the other things that make me the person who I am.

    • Hi Sarah, thanks for your message! I would say, what are you waiting for?, It’s big leap joining a community from our isolation, but joining has enriched my life tenfold and opened up opportunities I would have never otherwise known about. We may live across the world and in different cultures and have very different backgrounds, but I have never felt safer and more secure then within this community. Have you tried an online StutterSocial group? If you are apprehensive these could be a great way of introducing yourself into the community as you do not not necessarily have to speak! Natalie

    • Hi Sarah. It took me 27 years to found out there were others like me. When I got a folder in my hands telling me there was a whole world of PWS out there, it litterally changed my life. I learned so much and received so much support, it’s amazing to be able to pay that forward. By telling your, you help others, but also reveal things you have been hiding to yourself and which you, together with your friends who GET it, can process. Not even mentioning the love, the fun, the support, the laughing, the crying, the acceptance, the sharing, the lifelong friendsships, the always-have-a-friend-to visit 🙂 Once you’ve reached out, you’ll have friends for life. 🙂

      Anita

  7. I have been looking for a support group to join recently to educate myself on the difficulties that people who stutter face and the strategies most successful in supporting confident, effective communication. I am glad I came across this video and links to the web page so that I can learn more. I love the idea of “Stamily” and appreciate how inclusive it is, allowing both individuals who stutter and individuals who do not to become members. Because of the openness of this organization, I would imagine it reaches many people and fulfills multiple purposes in support, education, and advocacy. This group seems very accepting and nonjudgmental, but have you experienced any divide or hard feelings between individuals who implement strategies to reduce disfluencies and those who believe in openly stuttering without the use of techniques? I am new to my studies in fluency and am curious about whether or not this exists. Thank you!
    -Katie

    • Thank you for your message. You are always welcome to join our Whatsapp group or Facebook group and join the discussions. We are also active on Discord where we have different channels to discuss different Stamily-related things. Just hit me a personal message on Facebook (Jurjen de Jong).

      And to answer your question:
      The beauty of Stamily is that there is no judgement. Everybody is able to be or behave the way he/she wants and therefore also stutter and deal with their stutter the way he/she wants.

    • Hi Johnka14! Thanks for your question, and you raise a good point as, being an overt stammerer myself and actively choosing to not use any techniques and to (as Willemijn says) “just stammer” and I have been made to feel that this is wrong. However, with Stamily I don’t even think this is really a topic that comes up, we understand that it’s not a ‘one-way fits all situation’ so we try and put out a variety of information, making sure that we stay unbiased to avoid individuals feeling this way because something doesn’t work for them. I hope this answers your question! Natalie

    • That’s an interesting question and yes, we’ve had people coming to a stuttering gatherings with the goal to promote a “cure” and/or a therapy s/he find amazing and wants to “convert” the group. But that takes only a few hours, as they soon realize that that’s not what this is about. Instead of promoting and converting, they learn that sharing and learning is so much more helpful and rewarding. And the fun part is that they let their guards down, stutter freely and open up. 🙂 There are even SLPs (who stutter) in the group, but all with the same goal: raising awareness and sharing our passion to bring the stuttering world together, no matter who you are. 🙂

      Anita

  8. Stamily is such an awesome word! The basis of the word, family, is a strong word. It represents a group of people who love each other unconditionally. This was touched on by each person in the video. Some of the other things I didn’t think about is that Stamily means shelter, connection, and honest and open communication. I think Stamily was related as a sort of low maintenance group therapy where you can share and hear others experiences. A group that was always available to talk and always listening. You also don’t have to listen if you don’t want to! In my own words, to add to the video, Stamily is finding out I can be an inspiration for others and that I can be comfortable outside of my comfort zone.

    • The name ‘Stamily’ was already around in the ‘stutterworld’, but we also thought it was so powerful and should become our community name!
      I am happy to hear that you were touched by our video.
      And your addition is awesome! Thank you for sharing this.

      If you are ever interested to be more in touch with us, you can hit me a message on FB (Jurjen de Jong) and I add you to our communication channels (Whatsapp, Facebook, Discord)

  9. I really love the video and what Stamily means to their members. As a SLP this kind of videos and experiences let me know more about what stuttering means.
    Thank you for making this video!

    Greetings from Peru!!

    • I am happy to hear that you liked our video and got something out of it!
      Greetings from Europe 🙂

    • Hi Cynthia, it’s great that you have found our video useful as an SLP… If you would like to ask any further questions and get in touch with us in the future, just send us a message via our website stamily.org. Natalie

  11. I love hearing what Stamily means to each of you as individuals! I do not have a stutter, but I do have some understanding for how hard it can be for those in the stuttering community to communicate. Communication is such a big part of our lives and to have a difficulty with something like that can be extremely emotionally, mentally, and physically taxing! It is always great to have a group of people who understand you and will be there for you unconditionally!

    This video was truly touching!

    Braedyn