postr/StutterSeptember 7, 2025

Did I ever even have a stutter if it randomly went away?

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Did I ever even have a stutter if it randomly went away? Asking because I'm kind of afraid it's coming back, and I hope I'm just psyching myself out. From childhood to about 11 I had a minor stutter, the kind of thing that was easy to dismiss as ordinary speech difficulties in children. However, between about aged 11 to 17, I had a stutter that made speaking up in class extremely frustrating and often brought me to the point of tears. "There's an orange microphone over there, Professor Balser" could turn out more like "There's an or-or-or-or-or-or-oran-ran-ran-ran-oran-orange mic-mic-mic-mic-mi-mi-mi-mi-mi-micr-ro-ro-ro-ro-ro-ro-ro-ro-ro-pho-pho-pho-MICROPHONE ovvvvvvver THERE, Prrroffffff-fffess-fess-fess-fessor Bal-bal-bal-bal-bals-bals-bals-balser." It could get to the point where teachers would ask if I was having a stroke, and my mother accused me of faking it to embarrass her, because it genuinely went on too long to be believable to her. But after college it almost completely... went away? I do use a LOT of filler words and repeat parts of my sentences, but no one I've met as an adult would ever believe that I used to have a stutter. Sometimes I worry because I can hear myself repeating tough syllables or extending things funny or even having a block, but literally no one else has noticed. But now after a fairly traumatic event I can feel my jaw tensing up like it used to, and my stammering has become noticeable. Am I right to be worried that this old stutter might be coming back?

Themes

Causes & VariabilityEmotional ExperienceIdentity & Disability

Subthemes

Severity & FluctuationAnxiety & Social JudgmentIdentity & Self-Perception