I suffered from a stutter from the time I started learning how to speak. I started speech therapy in preschool and cycled through various speech therapists as I moved around. I went to psychotherapy for years and even tried hypnotherapy as a last resort when I was 15/16. I was even in communication with my local university’s speech and neuroscience departments, asking if they were doing any studies I could be a part of just on the off chance that I could find a “cure”. The level of frustration I felt was more than I could ever put into words and way more than any non-stutterer would ever be able to fathom. You worry about way more the just speaking and how people view you - personally, I was worried about finding a job, the possibility of having to be on disability, whether I’d ever be in a relationship and have a family and if I even wanted to on the chance that my stutter would be hereditary (I have a history in my family). I was tired ALL the time because stuttering made my body physically tense up. I was bullied mercilessly in school. I would get into my mom’s car and cry everyday when she picked me up. It was awful and the people around me were awful. As much as I’m so grateful that I don’t stutter anymore (I sometimes have a bad day where I stumble over my words but it’s rare), it’s frustrating because it just randomly went away? I have no idea how? It just like stopped one day? Nothing major happened to make it stop, it just did. So yeah, I’m beyond grateful to not have to deal with the anxiety and exhaustion anymore but it’s slightly bittersweet because I don’t feel like I “overcame” it, if that makes sense? I see how differently people treat me and it makes me feel weird because for 17 years, my stutter was part of my identity and now it’s not. It’s so baffling and surreal sometimes. It’s so stupid but I sometimes get thoughts where I feel guilty and maybe a sense of imposter syndrome? Idk, I should just be happy but I feel like I’ve attained freedom but with no closure. Like people who lose a lot of weight but still have the mentality of an overweight person - apply that to stuttering and that’s how I feel. I’ve lived through comments like the ones addressed in this post and it’s so degrading and dismissive. If we could stop, fuck knows we would! I still feel so attached to this community even though I’m not as affected anymore. I’m wishing everyone the best in their journeys.