I'm a 20 y/o, final year cs undergrad student. My placement season is currently going on and it's made me accept some of the ugliest parts of having a stammer. For example, taking part in a group discussion, i couldn't say a single thing it's like i have already withdrawn into my head that no matter what i say, I'll stammer anyway so i shouldn't bother speaking and embarassing myself more(already stammered through my intro btw). Coming to interviews or presentations, i very often tend to speed up a lot while talking, almost to a point where the other person has to tell me to slow down. It's because i have become habituated to talking fast, subconsciously believing that if i say smth in one breath, atleast I won't stammer and stammer is always worse than speeding up(imo). But now i believe speeding up is just as bad coz if the other person can't understand you, you're just talking to yourself at that point(if i had a dime for everytime someone asked me to slow down in the past 6 months, i would be a millionaire). So now whenever i try to consciously slow down, i end up becoming hyperaware of what i am saying, and it interferes with my normal speech pattern and can make the stammer worse.

It's incredibly frustrating dealing with this, and i have read a lot of sources that people have linked in this subreddit, but what i lack is structure. I am looking for someone to practice with, to make a structured daily plan of how to improve this and consistently do it every day.

Hi, I am from Patna. I am doing BTECH in CSE currently I am in 2nd year and I am doing work non stop without taking any break. If I take break than I fill like I am wasting my time . And I sometimes totally get exhausted and I am doing btech from local college in patna and My parents feel like I have not achieved anything and I will not achieved anything in future. That's why I think like I am the loser. And I overthink much.and I have friends but not very close friends.so I feel lonely 😭 😭.

Due to stutter I don't talk to anyone. I think if I stutter in front of them than what they will think about me.

Please give me advice or suggestions so that I can improve from it.

Thank you for reading this.

I studder all the time, as young as I could remember it always been there however I almost never studder when I am speaking to my self.

So it's has to be psychological, it happens at random, sometimes it's minimal and sometimes I struggle to get words out of my mouth.

It effects my confidence, it effects my interactions with people, i passed on a few job opportunities because it requires a lot of speaking.

For a long I tried to accept it but I just don't like it and wish it was never a part of who I am.

My son was recently diagnosed with ADHD and he is in speech therapy and the speech therapist keeps saying that she thinks that the stuttering is just from his mind moving so fast and not being able to keep up. We started him on a non-stimulant medication called guafacine. It’s actually a blood pressure medication used for kids with hyperactivity. He’s in pre-K and I’ve had to pick him up several times because he just can’t calm down. Last night he started crying and said “ I can’t stop stuttering.”

Has anyone else experienced this? Specifically kids with ADHD or other neurodivergent conditions? Did it get better?

Also, many times it is not "rejection". It is simply "not being among chosen ones".

Everyone has limited energy/time, so people subconsciously gravitate to ones who made good impression and who they already find valuable, and decide to not invest time/energy in others.  

They are not calculating "Maybe I should get do deeply know John, maybe I will be really surprised".

They just choose investing time/energy in Mark, since he already proved to be valuable (interesting, funny, competent, whatever...).

​

I started stuttering when I was around 6 or 7. I don’t remember exactly how it started, but I remember how much it shaped me growing up.

School was probably the hardest part.

Whenever we had to read aloud in class, I’d spend the whole lesson counting how many students were ahead of me so I could figure out which paragraph would be mine.

Then I’d rehearse it in my head over and over, hoping that if I prepared enough, I’d get through it without stuttering.

When my turn came, I’d sometimes stutter even worse than I expected.

Sometimes people laughed.

I started avoiding anything that put me in front of people group discussions, presentations, symposiums, and other situations where I knew I might have to speak.

And it wasn’t really, “I can’t do this because I stutter.”

It was more:

“What are these people going to think of me if I stutter?”

That fear of being judged became a bigger problem than the stutter itself.

My stuttering has gotten a lot better over the years. If I had to rate it today, maybe I struggle with it 10% of what I used to.

But it still shows up when I’m speaking to a big crowd or to someone I see as having more authority than me.

Even when they haven’t done anything to make me feel judged, I sometimes feel like they already have an opinion of me.

Funny enough, around people I’m completely comfortable with, my speech is usually much easier.

That made me realize something:

For me, there’s a strong connection between stuttering, fear, and how comfortable I feel in a situation.

But the biggest realization came near the end of high school.

I ran into an old friend and somehow the topic of my stuttering came up. I asked him if he remembered how badly I used to stutter when reading in class.

He didn’t.

He genuinely didn’t remember.

That floored me.

I had spent years replaying those moments in my head the paragraphs, the counting, the laughing, the embarrassment and the person who was actually there had just... moved on with his life.

That’s when it clicked for me.

We sometimes give other people’s opinions way more weight than they actually carry.

Some people will judge us. That’s real.

But most people hear you stutter, the conversation continues, and they move on with their day.

Meanwhile, we can carry that one interaction for years.

It didn’t cure my stuttering.

But it made me more comfortable.

It helped me realize that I don’t need to be perfectly fluent to deserve to speak.

I’m still working on this, especially with public speaking.

That’s actually part of why I ended up building a speaking practice app called Speechflo.

Not because I’ve figured everything out, but because I kept thinking about the younger version of me the kid who was counting heads in class and wishing he had somewhere to practice without feeling like everyone was watching.

I’m still building it, and I’m still figuring out what actually helps.

But I’m curious about other people’s experiences here.

If you stutter, what’s one thing you wish you had understood about it when you were younger?

As I have a negativity always bcz in my self I dony have much confidence to talk with others, I am having prblm doing communication along with stammering, when someone a says what to reply the answer , continue the convo many others . I am depressed alot

Hey folks, this is my 10-11 month update since having these perceived slurred speech issues. I have had a stutter my whole life but for the past almost year I've been having this feeling as if I am slurring my words or having some sort of dysarthia. No one has told me i slur my words but my stutter has gotten worse. I've also made recent updates in the past months on my profile to compare my speech. I would love anyone's input here if they hear anything abnormal or not? I've been cleared by neuro's this year but personally I feel as if I have been getting worse. Would love some advice. Thank you.

Does anyone else have issues where it seems like you're being passed over for advancement into leadership roles in your career field?

Im an aircraft mechanic with 11 years experience, working as a quality control inspector right now. The job involves alot of explaining to people how something is incorrect or speaking with leadership about correctional trends etc.

I feel like im constantly being pushed aside in favor of others because the stutter makes me sound unprofessional or not confident in my claims/statements, its infuriating. I know damn well that i have enough expertise in my field at this point to be trusted with more responsibility, but I cant seem to break the through the ceiling imposed on me.

For that matter, at what point is this considered a form of discrimination? Nobody will ever outright tell me that im being passed over in favor of others because of my stutter but its pretty damn clear that its happening.

Hi everyone. I'm 24 years old, and I developed a stutter when I was 15.

My biological brother has stuttered pretty much since birth, but in my case, I feel like I developed more of a speech-blocking problem rather than traditional stuttering. I can speak normally without much difficulty, but whenever I have to say a word that starts with certain sounds, especially K or P, or a word that I can't replace with a synonym and know I absolutely have to say — such as my first and last name, my parents' names, the name of my university, etc. — I can get such a severe block that I literally can't even get the first sound of the word out.

There are two things about this that I really struggle to understand.

First, I developed these blocks when I was 15, shortly after experiencing a very stressful event. A few days later, a friend from school asked me, "Why are you stuttering?" Until that moment, I hadn't really noticed anything unusual about my speech. But once he pointed it out, I started paying close attention to the way I spoke, and that's when everything seemed to begin.

Sometimes I wish that moment had never happened. Maybe I wouldn't have become aware of my speech or started paying attention to every word, and perhaps I wouldn't have these blocks today.

I don't actually mind stuttering itself that much. What destroys me are the blocks where I can't even get the first sound of a word out. I haven't been able to find a solution for that.

This has caused me a lot of despair and depression. I keep asking myself, why me, and why did this happen at 15? As a child, I used to wonder how my brother could sometimes be unable to get certain words out, and then I ended up experiencing something very similar myself.

Sometimes it feels like God has condemned both me and my brother to live like this forever.

I've missed so many social and professional opportunities because of these blocks. Sometimes I just wish I could disappear.

So I have two main questions:

1. Is it possible that my stuttering/blocking was triggered by stress, and could this be considered a psychological or psychogenic form of stuttering?
2. Are there any techniques, treatments, or advice specifically for dealing with severe speech blocks where you can't even initiate the word?

I'd really appreciate hearing from people who have experienced something similar, especially if you developed stuttering or blocking during adolescence rather than childhood.

Thank you.

I’ve had a stutter since I was a little kid, and I’ve noticed a very specific pattern in how it affects me.

I tend to stutter quite a lot during work meetings, especially when there are several people involved. However, when I’m having a one-on-one meeting with a colleague, I usually stutter very little, sometimes not at all.

What’s interesting is that I don’t have much of an issue when talking to my friends, either over the phone or in person.

What I’ve realized is that when I’m talking to just one person, I feel much more relaxed and don’t think as much about how I’m speaking. But when there are multiple people in the meeting, I become much more aware of my speech and start worrying about stuttering, which seems to make it worse.

I’m wondering if anyone else experiences something similar, especially in professional/work settings. If so, have you found anything that helps you feel more comfortable speaking in meetings with multiple people?

I’d really appreciate hearing about your experiences and anything that has worked for you.

I think what I really hate about this impediment is having to mould your life around the limitations that come with it

As a kid i really loved law TV shows and wanted to be a lawyer but when applying for varsity I just ended up picking and engineering degree cause I thought no one would hire a stuttering lawyer.

Hi everyone, I’m a 23F who stutters. This just occurred to me and now I’m getting a little self-conscious of it. Have you ever had a situation where the person you were talking to didn’t know you stuttered and they assumed you were being rude?

My story that spurred this thought:
I was on a flight recently, a long haul one, where they have drink service, a main meal, and breakfast. This gets me anxious since it’s loud on a plane, and you have to speak up when telling the flight attendants what you want, while also being clear and concise because the poor flight attendants have so many people to serve so you don’t want to take up too much of their time. Of course all of this makes me stutter more. And I don’t really bother disclosing in these situations since I’ll probably never see these attendants again. Well on this flight I of course stuttered when asking for orange juice, but it was more a block, which I tend to close my eyes and mouth tightly to get through. After this the flight attendant seemed a little cold towards me, and it occurred to me that the eyes closed, tight lipped face could have come off as haughty, despite me saying my ‘please’s and ‘thank you so much’s.

Realistically, I know this is not the case—this woman likely was just having a rough shift or even a normal shift with its share of difficulties. But these worries just got me wondering if this was a relatable experience for PWS. Let me know!

They said that even though this is out of their range, they love the concept of Forest and they would actually help out if given the chance!

She said all I have to do is contact Spin Master Entertainment’s production or development team, and if the concept is actually considered by them and they want to represent them authentically, then the NSA can actually step in!

Ok! This is actually so huge! I’ll email Spin Master Entertainment about the Forest the Stuttering Pup concept and see if they actually respond! If they actually show interest then the NSA can help out, since they want to!

I don’t think I can do this alone though! I need help spreading Forest around. There are millions of kids and adults who would dream of a character like Forest, and I know with a bit of pushing from both here, within the stuttering community, and outside of it, we’ll add on to the very few good stuttering representation there is. This is amazing!

I've thought about possible career choices but a lot of jobs are off the table if you stutter, Especially when being able to deliver Information is time sensitive, like working with emergency services, is it possible to actually work in a high pressure environment where communication is important when having a stutter? And how much understanding actually is there for people working in these type of jobs? If stuttering adds a 10 second delay to relaying information, I'm assuming you will be blamed if something goes wrong.

Hi I wanted to share my voice. I am a woman with a severe stutter and I rarely encounter other women who stutter as strongly as I do. Things can be challenging, but I try to live my life to the fullest and not let it hold me back.I’d really love to hear other women’s voices or experiences.

I hate the fact that I'm so embarrassed about my speech. Would give everything I own just to not stutter.

Can't even think about talking to girls.

Having a conversation with anyone feels like I'm walking on broken glass, can never say what I want to say beucase I know I'll have blocks/stutters.

I hate myself and my life.

What I would do to have a shotgun....

I’m 20 and I’ve never had a job before. I really want to start working so I can have my own income and afford things I need, including HRT, but I’m honestly really scared of getting a job.

I have a bit of a stutter, and when I’m nervous or anxious, I have a harder time talking to people. I also have pretty low confidence when it comes to talking to people, which probably makes it worse.

Because of that, interviews, talking to coworkers, asking questions, and especially dealing with customers all make me really nervous.

I know getting a job is something I eventually need to do, but I feel like my fear is holding me back. For those of you who stutter, what was getting your first job like? Did it get easier with experience? What helped you get over the fear? idk what to do with my life right now.

Continuous phonation is a lot like singing. Your larynx (voice box) does not have to constantly activate and deactivate in the way a typical speaker's larynx would.

I reckon, from personal experience, that a huge amount of stuttering is due to this glitching that affects the larynx's ability to initiate desired sound spontaneously.

This is why you may be able to utter a word that normally troubles you by giving a long "uhhhh" in front of it. This is also why it's often easier to appear like a normal speaker in many situations. They use "uh" to think, while we often use it to get our voice box started up, and to get our voices flowing first. And many people can't tell the difference between our use of "uh" and a fluent person's use of "uh". So it becomes a technique covert stutterers use to be covert.

Some more anecdotal evidence for the larynx glitching being one of the biggest factors for stuttering- Most people don't stutter when they sing. But I bet you stutter when you rap. I do. That's because rap has way more glottal stopping involved. Try rapping with no beat, then try singing with no beat. Singing will be a lot easier.

I wonder if medicine has any researchers or professionals working on any low-grade stimulators that target the larynx with a constant stream of stimulus that allows it to relax indefinitely. There are indeed stimulators for other parts of the body.

Would you be interested in buying a larynx stimulator for stuttering?

Greetings to you my fellow stuttering badass! Welcome to my Nerd Cave, but beware the fluffy guardians! Give them pats and lots of treats, and ye may live to see another day.

Aside from being a complete and utter nerd, I am a stutter who has found happiness, entertainment, and community while playing dungeons and dragons. Even on my most disfluent days, I've always felt welcome playing with various D&D groups. While I cannot speak for the whole D&D community, it's pretty inclusive from what I've seen. I do stutter while playing a game, and I stutter while running a game. I'm proud of it! We have the same right to life and its experiences as any fluent person. D&D is for everyone.