I have a dissimilar experience to most stutterers that I’ve met (I go to NSF meetings) in that I’m incredibly happy I stutter. My fear of speaking as a child made me writing-crazy, and I developed a fantastic creative writing voice from all the writing I’d do instead of speaking to other people. My stutter also influenced me to work with people with disabilities, and I’m now pursuing a career in social work with a focus on nonverbal and semiverbal disabled populations, because I want to teach them that communicating in whatever way is most comfortable for them is the best way. I started refusing to use my “speech helpers” early on. Having to think about them all the time and make sure I actively employed them gave me horrific anxiety to the point where having to speak once a day in class gave me panic attacks. I let myself stutter freely, and I tend to tell people right away that I stutter so there’s no confusion on their end. In my experience doing so, they invariably appreciate it and don’t judge me for it. I like answering their questions about it and joking about it, too. I grew up in an abusive household, and I saw an unethically-practicing speech therapist for the entirety of my childhood. Having to navigate my disability taught me to demand respect from people. If I hadn’t been born with my speech impediment, I would be meek and cowtowing. I’d be pursuing a “safe” career I wasn’t passionate in, and my social circles would be incredibly bland. I wouldn’t be nearly as creative, unique, and confident as I am today. I still have PTSD from my experiences, but if I didn’t have my stutter as a vehicle to build my self-worth, it would be far more severe than it is now. I’m SO grateful I was born like this and that I’m doing a career in disabilities because of it. I hope this comment isn’t too long, but I try to offer positivity in this subreddit because that’s so understandably difficult to do when you have a speech impediment. Sending self-love to your partner.