Stuttering Question
Hello! my questions for you all is did stuttering affect your ability to make friends growing up? Also, if you were in speech therapy, how helpful was it for you? Thank you for your time!! -Baylee G
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Stuttering Question — 1 Comment
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Hello, Baylee! Thank you for asking this question of the professional panel. This question is better meant for the “Talk to a PWS” panel, however, I can answer this question as the sibling of a PWS based on his experience growing up. I will start by saying, stuttering is a very individualized experience. So, some individuals who stutter may experience this while others may not. With my brother, he is yet to tell me about it (or tell me about it and tell me that I can disclose the information.) He had his group of friends, was social with them, spoke to them, and didn’t hesitate to do so in my observations of him and their interactions. Again, this does not mean it necessarily didn’t happen. Some people who stutter may appear very social and they really aren’t- aren’t some of us who don’t stutter like that, too? Remember: the person in front of you is a human being- and has social skills and feelings just like we do whether they stutter or not… So for people who do not stutter- if there are situations we tend to avoid without stuttering, they can avoid them too, with or without stuttering.. remember that. 🙂 To answer your second question, in reference to my brother’s journey with stuttering, my brother has stuttered since the age of six, and he is not in his forties. He has never received speech therapy nor does he have the desire to ever receive speech therapy for stuttering- and I (his sister) am a speech-language pathologist. 🙂 This goes to show, it is up to the individual who stutters, their family values and decisions, as to whether they want to pursue speech therapy or not. Stuttering is not something we should want to ever “fix” for someone. It isn’t a “problem”…. and speech therapy isn’t a requirement. We have the choice… I have a medical condition, for example, and I can choose to treat it or not- no one is forcing me to do so. I hope that helps to answer your questions, and take care! Be well.