commentr/StutterMay 24, 2024

Content

Idk if this anecdote of my life answers the question but I stuttered throughout my adolescence constantly in school and in front of anyone that wasn’t my family, couldn’t order food at a restaurant. Cried in front of my entire class my very first day of middle school because I couldn’t get the words out to say “present” during roll call. Around high school it began to fade somehow. I’m in my late 20s now and I work as a consultant for a very large firm. Ive presented regularly through my career to clients but I still live scared that it will come back one day and I would consider myself a decent public speaker now. I’ll catch myself about to stutter, I can feel it when I start to take a breath…I just know the words won’t be able to come out easy (starting with vowels were always the issue) and immediately in that moment I’ll pivot to starting with a consonant to avoid it. Youd literally never know, it’s not something I share, but my in laws didn’t believe me when I told them I had a pretty severe stutter. it’s something i can still tell could lay dormant if that makes sense because of those moments in my adult life? It does not happen often but it terrifies me to say the least.

Themes

Anticipation & AvoidanceSpeech & Stuttering

Subthemes

Avoidance & SubstitutionAnticipating StutteringRepetitions & Prolongations