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I feel very uneasy when people who stammer are praised for “passing” as fluent. https://twitter.com/IanDunt/status/1352175667748757504
It reinforces the idea that the only truly acceptable way to exist in this world is as a fluent person. People who stammer, then, are obligated to do whatever it takes to become fluent.
I lived with this attitude until quite recently. It was a tyranny. Every conversation was evidence of my failure. I always thought that if I just worked a little bit harder, I could crack the code and sound like everyone else.
@ninagcomedian tore this idea apart quite beautifully. Why should we be expected to spend a large part of every day on rehabilitation? We are busy people with more interesting ways to spend our time. https://rootedinrights.org/overcoming-the-concept-of-overcoming-as-a-person-who-stutters/
There are some strategies which some people find help them to stammer less. But people who continue to stammer past childhood are very unlikely to ever completely stop. It’s much more likely that they just become very adept at hiding it.
Some people’s stammers are very mild, and only crop up on occasion. Some people naturally stammer less as they age. This does not mean that they worked harder than anyone else.
If every stammerer who “passes” as a fluent person is a success story, an inspiration, then what does that say about the rest of us who fail to meet that standard?
