 About the Author:
My name is Kimberly Madison (pronouns she/her), and I’m a lifelong person who stutters. An administrator (and sometimes massage therapist) by trade, truly I’m just a human being trying to make myself and the world a better place. Mental health and personal growth are topics I particularly feel drawn to. Also I enjoy music and dancing in all forms, but especially African / African diaspora drum and dance. I currently live in the United States, on ancestral Tohono O’odham land in Tucson, Arizona, with my sweet husband and kitty. |
This is a short video recorded by me, Kimberly Madison, for International Stuttering Awareness Day (ISAD) 2026. This video describes three different “shades”, or perspectives, in how I view the arc of my stuttering journey since childhood.
Kimberly,
I am truly blown away by your willingness to not only put yourself out there about stuttering, for the first time, as you say, but choosing to do so by video is just stunning.
I remember when I first contributed to this conference, I had spent SO much time organizing and planning and thinking of what I should say, and how. I wrote a paper, and then did the same for a few more years. I never had the courage to full out share a video of me actually talking about stuttering, and more so, actually stuttering.
So what you have done, as a first timer to sharing your story, is inspirational.
Your three shades so beautifully encapsulate the complex journey of stuttering. The shades keep changing and we adjust. You are adjusting and doing what so many who stutter cannot and will not do, YET. You have just made it so much easier for many others to also say, “hey, I am tired of doing this . . . . let me just deal with it.”
Thank you for letting me/us be witness to your growth.
Pam
Oh gosh. Pam. Logging on to this site today to check my page feels so fraught. I have felt myself wanting to avoid it, out of shame and embarrassment. I was scared to see myself here, or have anyone else watch the video. I didn’t want to witness myself – a self that produced this from a moment of courageous “shade #3”, watching today from my avoidant “shade #1” perspective. Reading your comment here … and reading your’s and Sara’s incredible pieces, melted my shame just enough to allow me to watch it again. I almost don’t recognize me. That’s how new shade #3 is. Your words here feel like both a healing salve, a balm, and also like a lifeline to a version of myself I’m still uncovering from the shadows. Thank you for everything.
So brave of you Kimberly to speak up and share your story. It is great to see that you are following your own journey of discovery and where it will take you is like stuttering itself, a beautiful mystery slowly unfolding.
Thank you so much for your kind reflection! And yes, wow … a beautiful mystery slowly unfolding. I hope to one day see my stutter as a beautiful mystery that unfolds in any given moment ;o). That is a prayer I have for myself in this lifetime.
Kimberly,
Thank you for doing this video and sharing your journey. I wish you the very best as you work on your personal growth and speech. It is a pleasure to have you here in AZ.
J-J-Judith.
Judith! J-J-J-Judith! You are such an inspiration for me, a “shero” – and one of the reasons I was able to muster the courage to submit a video here on this platform. Thank you for viewing it, and please keep spreading the good word about advertising unapologetic stuttering as you do! WE’RE LISTENING 🙏🏽