 About the Author:
My name is Faith Leung Hiu Lam. I am a registered SLP and a certified stuttering specialist. Currently, I serve as the Vice President of Professional Clinical Education at the Taiwan Stuttering Association. With over a decade of experience, more than 90% of my clients are people who stutter, including adults, adolescents and children. I also supervise University of Melbourne students during their clinical placements in my stuttering-focused clinic. What I find most rewarding is working closely with clients to explore their experiences of stuttering and helping them discover their ability to communicate with confidence and freedom. Witnessing this transformation inspires me to continue serving, supporting and advocating for this remarkable community. |
Stuttering can come in different shades for different people. In this video, Frank shares his personal experience of stuttering, including what it can feel like to face a “monster” and why trying too hard to control stuttering can sometimes make speaking even more difficult. He also shares his thoughts on how being more patient when listening to people who stutter can be a simple yet meaningful way to show support.
Welcome, and thank you for being here! We hope you enjoy Frank’s story and gain some insight into the different shades of stuttering and the experiences that can come with it. 🙂
Hi Faith and Frank,
Thanks so much for creating this video and letting us all hear your thoughts about the stuttering experience.
Frank – thanks for being open about how you feel. Faith – maybe you can ask Frank this question. Has Frank managed to “tame” his “monster” of stuttering at all?
Thanks for this great contribution,
Pam
Hello Frank and Faith! Thank you so much!
You made me reflect, and I like to reflect
I also used to see my stutter as a monster, a monster I wanted to kill. Things started to change when I realized it was… impossible, and instead I shifted my focus to taming it. And in truth, it takes much more intelligence and courage to tame than to kill my stutter. And intelligent and courageous I am! And intelligent and courageous I like to feel! Of course, without the stuttering community and its allies, this task would have been very difficult, not to say impossible! Stuttering has a lot of strength, it’s like a horse… and I’m young… I need my therapist and my community of horse tamers, of monster tamers.
Hi Faith and Frank,
Thank you so much for the video. I have gained a lot of insight into the lived experience of stuttering, and it was incredibly valuable to learn ways we can support people who stutter. Understanding the perspectives of Frank and others who stutter will help me best support clients as a future SLP. I really liked Frank’s personification of stuttering as a monster; it beautifully visualised and conceptualised how deeply it can affect someone. I have also learned that we should practice patience and be considerate, and that stuttering is not a barrier to communication nor something to be fixed; everyone has their own shade after all!
Hi Faith and Frank — thank you for making this video and sharing your perspectives on the many shades of stuttering. Frank, I really appreciated your reminder for people who don’t stutter to be patient and considerate, so that we can hear what someone is communicating regardless of how long it takes to say. It sounds like you’ve done a lot of reflection on your own journey with stuttering, and it’s neat to see you using your experiences to educate others and advocate for people who stutter!
Faith, I also appreciated your point that many of the thoughts and experiences Frank described are shared by others. Even though everyone has their own unique “shade” and their own experiences, there can be so much value in realizing that other people have wrestled with similar thoughts and feelings. The fact that the two of you took the time to share this conversation is such a nice example of that, and I know it will help others feel more connected and less alone in their own experiences.