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"I didn't even notice!" Hi everyone, I've been stuttering since I was 7, and began speech therapy a few years ago in my early 30s. My stuttering has become drastically more manageable, to the point where I have no major disfluencies most of the time, and blockages no longer cloud my thoughts as I speak. However, stuttering is still something I manage, and there remain less obvious/visible symptoms e.g. occasional word-switching, timing in group talks can seem randomly off, still can't order food, etc. Anyway, I've noticed any time I meet new people now and mention that I stutter (usually after a more obvious blockage, just so they're aware it's my stutter and not nervousness), I'm told "oh you do? I didn't even notice!" This is something pre-speech-therapy-me had waited to hear my entire life – a sort of validation that I've been "cured". However, to my surprise, I've found this statement to be pretty bothersome, and wanted to know if anyone else relates. Being able to manage my stutter took years of work, reflection, and saving up funds. When people tell me they don't notice, it can feel like all of these efforts, as well as the stigma adult stutters faced for decades, are disregarded. As well, since speech therapy I've come to accept my stutter as a part of me, which I no longer resent or feel ashamed of. Yes it makes speaking less easy, and some people may treat me differently for it, but it's been interwoven into so many of my life experiences and prompted so much self-reflection, that I wouldn't be the person I am today without it. So "I didn't notice" can oddly feel like a back-handed remark that vilifies a permanent part of me. This sort of goes hand in hand with fluent people feeling uncomfortable asking more about my stuttering, when in fact it's a topic I enjoy learning about and openly discussing. ​ ​