Some people think that people who stutter are dumb, but don't let that discourage you from talking, please!

Some people think that people who stutter are dumb, but don't let that discourage you from talking, please! That is the worst and I feel like that is the reason why many people are not so open about it because people tend to think of you as a very dumb person. But let me tell you something. I've been dealing with stuttering for about 15 years now, I study English language and am about to become a teacher. In the first semester of my masters, we had a subject Psycholinguistics where we learnt about different stuff including speech disorders as well. Besides exams, we also had to conduct a research on any topic we covered during the semester. Considering my background and who I am, I took *'Stuttering'* as my topic. I did the research, made a presentation and stood in front of 30 people in a classroom and held a presentation about (my) stuttering. I was never so open about it until that moment. I faced myself totally. It was horrifying moment, but also such a relief. Everybody was staring at me and couldn't believe that 1) I actually stutter, because besides reading and formal speech, I don't stutter and over time I learnt different strategies that help me while speaking 2) that I'm actually standing in front of them and saying that openly. I also said that if anyone has any questions they can ask me. All of my colleagues were respectful and some of them had interesting questions. Some of them had their eyes full of tears and were looking at me as if they wanted to hug me. That meant a lot, and I felt awesome after 4 years of hiding in the shade. That's how I felt. I also made some jokes about myself but the point was that I wanted to be open about it as a teacher as well, and show them that such people exist in classrooms and that we have to pay attention to each other. We all have a voice that deserves to be heard! In the end, I got a B and my motivation for studying somehow increased. I felt more alive and visible. I know that there were some people who were looking at me as if I was the dumbest person ever, especially when I stuttered, but honestly I DIDN'T GIVE A DAMN for the first time of my life. # You stand up in front of the crowd and talk about your weaknesses (we all have them) and then tell me or anybody else anything!