I used to be right in your shoes. At 17 I too struggled hard with self acceptance and confidence with my stutter. One of the most humiliating moments of high school for me happened in 11th grade, when my science teacher decided the class would be giving their science project oral reports to the entire school audience in the gym, at the last minute. I was not prepared one bit, and this teacher never accommodated my stutter during any oral reports, so I knew I was in for it. I had bad stage fright to begin with. My throat closed up on me, I was shaking, and I struggled to get even a few sentences out while manically shuffling through my notes. Then came the laughter from the crowd. It was rough. I still cringe when I revisit that memory. But, as painful as it was, it did make me stronger. Though I never had professional speech therapy, I learned a bit from books and other materials on accepting my stutter after that experience. Up until this point I never advertised, and actually tried to hide my stutter which only made it intensify more. My focus shifted from wanting it to go away to wanting myself to be comfortable with it and who God made me to be. So I decided my senior year would go differently. I changed the things I didn’t like about myself that I could change, like losing weight so I wasn’t overweight anymore, which in turn gave me some confidence. I allowed myself to stutter freely around anyone, and if they looked at me funny I would say, “so what, I stutter. Big deal” and move on. 9 times out of 10 the person didn’t know I stuttered, or they didn’t care and we would move about our conversation after that. If someone laughed at me or was mean after that, I let the claws come out and would do my best to publicly shame them for picking on someone with a disability. Is it ethical? probably not. Effective? Always 😈 I’m sure you already have heard this, but not only does time heal, it also gives you mega perspective. With that perspective can come self acceptance, confidence, and realizing that you are SO MUCH MORE than a girl who stutters. I’m 38 now, married to the kindest and hottest man I know, and we have two beautiful bright children together. After high school I enjoyed my 20’s THOROUGHLY and had too much fun, and decided to “adult” once I reached my 30’s by earning my bachelors degree in environmental science, settling down, and starting a family. If you told me this would be my life when I struggled in high school (btw I came from a broken home), I wouldn’t have believed you. Life will get better for you. Your speech will improve. You will be comfortable with yourself one day. Believe in yourself. You are beautiful just the way God made you and NOTHING can change that.