postr/StutterMay 4, 2017

A little animated story about stuttering - a few questions

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Content

A little animated story about stuttering - a few questions Hello dear people. I'm someone who stutters. I'm in design school, and I've decided to make an animation video about the subject of stuttering. I'm using my own personal view of stuttering as the main motivation of the story. I've written it down in a barebones way here. I'm curious to know what you think. There are three questions I'd like you to answer when you've read it. 1: Did the story make you think about stuttering a bit differently? 2: Was the story intriguing to you? 3: If you don’t mind, will you share your age and gender? Thank you!! (I'm using the male gender as its the most common among stutterers, but I haven't decided for the actual story yet) The story One day, a person who is fed up with their stuttering decides to pack his bags to travel around the world in search of a cure for their stuttering problem. On his journey he encounters many self-professed experts, each selling their own tricks. Secret breathing exercises, potions, devices. The stutterer tries them all. Each of the tricks help for a while, but it is never long before the stuttering returns to its familiar strength. In the crowd listening to another of a trickster’s sale pitches, a dog appears next to the stutterer. It stays there, and will not leave the stutterer afterwards. But, stutterer doesn’t mind its company – and as the search for a cure continues, their companionship turns into friendship. Just as before, the offered solutions end up in disappointment. The dog listens as the stutterer expresses his despair. It’s not long before the stutterer reaches the end of his rope. He has no hope or money left. The dog then seems acutely aware of his friend’s feelings. It starts acting strangely – until it transforms into a human being. The stutterer is shocked. The dog-person then says to her: you’ve been looking for the solution to your stuttering problem everywhere, while you spoke so fluently to me. Recognize that there is nothing wrong with you: you have the ability to speak with fluency. Be as indifferent towards the people as you were to me, and you will forget about the problem as you have imagined it. The stutterer remembers that he did in fact speak fluently every time he made his complaints to the dog. The dog, now a human being, is here to testify. The stutterer then resolves to speak to people as he does to the dogs, with indifference – stuttering or not. And so he does, until he forgets about his problem.

Themes

Community & SupportIdentity & Disability

Subthemes

Personal StoriesIdentity & Self-PerceptionAcceptance & Pride