I have been stuttering since the first day I opened my mouth, but today was a good day.
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I have been stuttering since the first day I opened my mouth, but today was a good day. Hey guys! I've never posted on here before, but I didn't know who else would be happy about this other than you guys so why not? I'll just start off by saying that I've been stuttering since I first began speaking. My parents noticed it when I was very young but figured that I would eventually grow out of it, because my father ALSO stuttered when he was younger. My stutter is not severe but it is very much noticeable, and at one point my teachers contemplated holding me back a grade because I could not read fluently at all. I am the only female stutterer I know, and so I found it very hard to find someone at school and at home who understood what I was going through. In addition to stuttering, I was severely bullied all the way from 5th grade to my freshman year of high school, and have developed a severe anxiety disorder because of it. I am constantly anxious, even as I'm sitting down typing this; my body is always shaking. As a result, my stutter has progressively become more and more difficult to control. I did go to speech therapy last year, but unfortunately it was not very helpful and made me even more anxious because I wasn't making progress. After months of beating myself up, I finally found this subreddit. I read everything you guys post, and your frustrations sit with me at such a deep and emotional level. You are the kind of people I wish I had in my life when I was growing up. BUT TODAY WAS A GOOD DAY!! My first day of college! I've literally been dreading this day for months for fear of having to introduce myself, not being able to say my name, etc. However, I took into account all the tips and tricks you guys have posted here, and did not stutter ONCE. Literally, not once! And for once in my life I actually felt confident, and felt like whatever I needed to say today was worth hearing. Anyway, that's my cool story for the day, and I just needed to share it with someone. Thanks for reading. :)