commentr/StutterMarch 1, 2024

Content

There is not currently a proven method/technique/formula that can cure/fix stuttering. Many people who stutter may exhibit a certain frequency of stuttering, and may also experience changes in their lives at some point that causes the stuttering to decrease (or increase), sometimes even significantly. Probably for nearly all within this group, and for a vast amount of others as well, stuttering is still something that they experience regardless of how observable it is to others - because stuttering is much better described by a "loss of control" or feeling of being "stuck" than just the audible repetitions, prolongations, and blocks. Those sensations/feelings that we experience do not go away even if we sound fluent to others (although we definitely may have spontaneous fluency at times, where we don't feel stuck at all). So although stuttering frequency can fluctuate across the lifespan, even significantly, nothing stemming from reputable research indicates that it is a condition that can be "fixed", or even modified without significant costs. So the reason why you're seeing a good number of people coming to terms with acceptance and ideas such as "it's okay to stutter" is because a cure is simply not in the cards, even though it would be convenient. We've been taught our entire lives that stuttering is something to be afraid or ashamed of, and unfortunately much of this comes from the field of speech therapy. It's been set alongside speech sound disorders as if it should be as easy to fix as an /r/ or /s/ error. With misunderstood/mysterious things like stuttering, "cures" and "fixes" will come out of the woodwork both from well-meaning professionals coming from old lines of thinking (i.e. researchers conducting research based on predetermined conclusions and thus creating confusion) and especially from people who just want to sell a product. Many people who sell their fluency handbook/course/videos may sound pretty fluent, but they're usually selling the idea that stuttering will "go away" when they'll actually teach strategies that require effort similar to what it would require to remove the letter /s/ from your sentences at all times. The sensation of stuttering is still nearly ever-present, but you're now working incredibly hard to suppress it, and in the process are likely mostly unable to pay attention to what's actually happening in the conversation you're participating in. Not sure if that's the experience you had in speech therapy or from reading books/courses, but I know that's a common story people tell. So right now where we're at is an understanding that modifying stuttering comes at a significant cost and is extremely difficult to generalize, to the point that many people cannot modify it much at all and for many of those who can - they struggle significantly to maintain those modifications. So focusing our efforts on running from what isn't going to go away ends up being counterproductive. I've struggled like most of us probably have with accepting the fact that I stutter, but the further along I've been on that journey, the more confident I am in my identity (as a whole person, not just as a stutterer) and the more I realize that stuttering absolutely does not need to be correlated with effective communication. The feeling of saying exactly what I want to say, when I want to say it, regardless of how much I stutter, feels exponentially better than the feeling of fear that someone might judge me if I allow myself to stutter. The Arthur Blank Center for Stuttering YouTube channel has some great segments on this, and John Hendrickson's book Life on Delay is awesome too. I know that's a lot, and I don't want to come across as preachy or annoying, so my apologies if it feels that way. I hope that perspective provides at least some amount of insight!

Themes

Identity & Disability

Subthemes

Acceptance & PrideAuthenticity vs. MaskingIdentity & Self-Perception