postr/StutterApril 1, 2021

How should I tell my coworkers?

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Content

How should I tell my coworkers? Lately I’ve been feeling judged over my stutter at work. Could be paranoia but my intuition is rarely wrong (plus a certain thing I overheard per my last post). With the help of a few intelligent minds here, I realized that a lot of people have no clue that stuttering is even a thing or that speech disorders exist. For this reason, they’re free to make their own assumptions (and these assumptions are... well, rarely positive). I realized that if I want the judgement to end, I’m going to need to lay it bare. My boss knows (I disclosed it before my interview) but I’ve never told my coworkers. I always just kinda thought that my speech disorder was obvious. Why else would I talk the way I do if there wasn’t something wrong? But again, I’m assuming a lot here and many people never came across a stutterer in their lifetime (it only effects 1% of the world after all). So, gotta do something. I’m in panic mode right now wondering how I’m going to do this. I left work early today claiming that I was sick (more like depressed and couldn’t stay if I didn’t want to cry the whole time) and she urged me to stay tomorrow as well to feel better. A huge part of me wants to take the easy route and send my coworkers an email about it while I’m at home. I don’t have to do the whole extremely uncomfortable face-to-face thing and I can get it out fluently (through text lol). But of course another part is like “grow a pair of ovaries and talk to them directly!”. Then another part is like “find a way to casually sneak it into a conversation.” So yeah, I’m stumped. Any ideas? Have any of you done this?

Themes

Social & RelationshipsEmotional Experience

Subthemes

Disclosure & Telling OthersAnxiety & Social JudgmentShame & Embarrassment