Why Do I Stutter?

I stutter.

When I was younger, I didn't know what it was and I was often ashamed of it. I even was home-schooled because of it. I had no friends and thought no one liked me 'cause I was different.

Well, 2 years ago I started speech therapy and began to realize that I wasn't alone. There are a lot of people who stutter in the world and that made me feel better. But, I was still unhappy, because, well, I had no friends.

Then one day my speech pathologist told me about a group of people who stutter and have parties and encourage others to come and join. I was concerned about my stutter, afraid I would be approached and forced to speak, but decided to go. When I got there, I was afraid to talk to anyone--but right away a kid my age walked up and introduced himself. And he stuttered. It was the coolest thing, so I introduced myself and we started hanging out. He told me to go around and introduce myself. I was afraid at first, but he encouraged me to do it, and I did.

I hadn't predicted how well the night would go at all. It was a lot of fun.

I'm no longer ashamed of my stutter. I now raise awareness about stuttering and go to local libraries in my area to talk to other kids with the same problem.

Submitted by Anonymous

Confidence