253. Embracing The Stutter

We all have things about our life we sometimes wish we could change. Today, a listener shares her journey of acceptance around her stutter.

Transcripts may not appear in their final version and are subject to change.

Hey, my name is Asia and this is my story for, um.  It’s going to be okay.  So I am a person who  stutters and, um,  it’s going to be about that.  So I’ve never really liked the idea of giving people advice. It’s going to be okay. It’s always felt so generic to me. You know, I. I’ve had friends with depression and I’ve had my own anxiety and friends with  pretty intense anxiety and I would always think, we can’t guarantee that it’s going to be okay for them.

Right. And  I noticed as I’ve been involved in some of like the stuttering community and some of the activism to do regarding the stuttering. I find myself telling people it’s going to be okay. Or to parents, kids, who’s the better, it’s going to be okay. And one of the things I’ve thought when people say, What do you wish you could tell your younger self?

You know, about stuttering, I always think, I wish I could tell my younger self, it’s going to be okay.  Because  when you have a world that’s full of stigma, and You have never heard a different narrative other than people telling you that the way you talk is wrong or it needs to change, or it’s going to be so much harder for you to live as a person with a st t t tter.

If only we could just use fluency techniques or other little things to get you tight and to get you to hide your voice or slow down. And when you’re told these things every single day, it’s almost. Doesn’t matter how strong your voice is, it wears you down, and it makes you feel not so great.  And about two years ago,  When I was in college, I met another person who’s the betters who was doing a documentary and I decided, okay, this thing that I hate this thing that I’m waiting for it to go away so that my life can begin.

I’m begging  God, the universe, whoever did to let this be gone. So my life can begin.  My life’s gonna have to begin,  and it doesn’t really matter if it goes away or not, it’s, I’m gonna have to figure out what to do,  and I thought, you know, I don’t have to like this, I don’t have to like this,  but I can choose to  just accept that it’s going to be here.