Acceptance...maybe my favorite stuttering topic. Partly because it was mysterious to me for many years, and many have their own definition of what acceptance is. Up until age 24 (just about 39 now), I never even knew acceptance was an option. I was always around therapists who drilled in the idea, "you're broken and you just need to fix it". After learning about acceptance, I toiled with the idea of acceptance for over a decade. In doing so I thought I reached acceptance many times, only to realize it was a false-acceptance I was adhering to. So what is acceptance to me? Acceptance: to willingly choose to allow the existence of stuttering without interference. Now to your questions... 1. A lot of self reflecting. Realizing that I stuttered my whole life and I still achieved many great things. I stuttered through every damn event..and guess what I'm still ok! Maybe its time to start accepting it... This was a big one for me...accepting FEAR. IMO you cant accept the stuttering until you accept the fear of it. I was in denial of my fear for many years and it hindered my acceptance. There are many ways to address your fear. Going outside my comfort zone. When you achieve what you never thought was possible while willingly, knowlingly stutter through it, you realize hey its ok I stuttered, I still accomplished what I wanted to. I ended up doing things if you asked me 10-15 years earlier I would have told you you were insane. 2. Surrounding myself with other stutterers got the ball rolling for me. Acceptance was an option. And there was a gradual crescendo towards acceptance. There was a singular event however that I realized a couple years later that really helped me reach full acceptance. Very long story short. My son was born 5 years ago. 6 weeks early. He wasnt breathing He survived. Drs told us 5 mins later would have been a different outcome. He still has his struggles. It just made me realize life is short and so fragile. Im done getting caught up in the whole stuttering bullshit. It just gets in my way. Now I feel, the stuttering is around me and thats ok. But it knows its place now..we coexist, say hi to each other some times. Im determined to enjoy my life how it is supposed to be enjoyed. 3. I am no longer a prisoner. I stutter, but no longer think like one. Every so often there are bad interactions, but I do not dwell. Nor do I have the desire to. I no longer think stuttering is an obstacle. In fact, i realized stuttering has given me opportunities I never would have had other wise. I am free. Edit: phrasing