During a recent engaging conversation with Dr. Hope Gerlach-Houck, I was able to talk myself through my thoughts on my own definition of concealment in stuttering. Dr. Gerlach-Houck—who is an assistant professor at Western Michigan University and a fast riser in the field of speech-language pathology—posed questions that challenged my long-held belief that I had always chosen to
Category: Stuttering
Stuttering is not the anxiety, hesitations, and fear to struggle. It is what follows the choice to brave each moment of stuttering. What we who stutter do when the tsunami of reactions hits after we stop stuttering, and how we choose to process them is what strengthens it as a disorder. These two choices arise
Several years ago I volunteered to speak on a panel about my experiences in the workplace with a hidden disability. The event was held by company executives in honor of national disability awareness month. There were three other panelists who shared their stories of adjusting to physical disabilities derived from health ailments. I spoke last.
It’s going to be one of the hardest conversations I will ever have. I already feel responsible for it without even knowing if it will come to fruition, but the likelihood is high. I have met many other people who stutter that have said, “oh, my uncle stutters” in response to the question as to
What’s his name? It has stopped me dead in my tracks. W hen I hear the question, I lose all ability to say anything. I can’t even open stutter. My voice goes silent and the first sound of his name gets trapped for what seems like ages in the depths of all the times I’ve struggled to
Why do you talk like that daddy? The anticipation of this question hangs ominously as I wait for my son to learn how to talk. While a toddler, his innocence extends to adults who often express the same uncertainty without saying the words. By accommodating his curiosity, I have the opportunity to describe stuttering as
My son has experienced my stutter every day of his life. He has heard, seen, and felt it in all its glory, whether he knows what it is or not. I have never hidden it from him. When he was born, I made a vow to myself that stuttering will never stand in the way
I suppose I’ve been numbing this fear. I have not stopped thinking about it since I found out I was going to be a father to a son. I sense its presence and feel how it influences my time with him, but I’m in denial when I tell my wife that I’m not afraid. Now,
What if you could learn what it’s like to stutter as you grow older, and then, once you understand, share it with others? This question remains the biggest problem still challenging the experience of stuttering. How come few who have navigated and transcended the afflicted state of stuttering turn back to pull others like myself forward into the
No one had ever told me that it was okay to stutter. When I learned that it really was okay, I never looked back. I could be filled with resentment and regret for having pursued fluency in speech therapy for a majority of my life. Fluency was always a far off mythical reality that was incomprehensible. Everything I
Every Waking Moment 