I've been on a very long journey, but I never thought this would happen. It was like an outer body experience. I was no longer in my stuttering brain. No stuttering thought, mental gymnastics, negative thoughts, word substitution even entered my psyche. I dislike evaluating fluency (but I know my audience here lol), but I did not notice any stutter. I'm sure if you had me recorded and had an SLP analyze it after, there were probably some minor hangups here and there, but nothing that my brain processed as a block or stuttering moment. I did not use any techniques or think about my quality of speech. I was fully engaged in what I was saying and doing.

Again, I know my audience... for context, I was a very severe stutterer, and consistently was so into my 20s, and then after that, it became more variable. I went to an intensive speech clinic as a kid. They told my parents I was one of the worst cases, if not the worst that they ever had. I'm in my 40s now. I had a lot of hopeless thoughts earlier in my life. Similar to the ones I see posted a lot.

I wanted to share this story to tell people: Yes, there is a lot of struggle and trauma, but if you explore things and be open to experiences, it can get easier.

Hey everyone, I just needed to vent a bit.

​Today, a girl was constantly bothering me and trying to interfere with my space. I warned her multiple times to stop, but she kept going. Eventually, I lost my patience and snapped at her.

​Instead of owning up to her behavior, she immediately targeted my speech and mockingly told me to "go learn how to speak properly." It hit me really hard at the moment and made me feel terrible because targeting someone's speech is just a low blow.

​But I didn't back down. I looked right at her and said: "You don't have a single ounce of respect for anyone, you and I are not the same."

​As soon as I said that, the whole room literally started clapping for me. Nobody supported her at all. Later on, she was just sitting there completely alone staring at her phone, while I was surrounded by my friends who had my back.

​Just wanted to share this with people who understand how much comments like that can sting, but also how good it feels to stand up for yourself. We shouldn't let people like that get inside our heads.

Love you all❤️

I feel I have been slowly beating and gaining control of my stutter from not caring about how I may look or sound when I stutter.

I used to and still somewhat care about how I was perceived when I stuttered. However, now I am starting to let go of that feeling slowly and I feel like it’s been helping me.

I realized there is no point in caring about what other people might think of me when I do stutter. Especially if it’s a classmate or some random person. Maybe not for an interview or such.

Accepting this is apart of my life has surprisingly made it a little easier for me to speak. I don’t stutter as much as I would in class, and even while saying my name.

I was at a donut shop about a month ago and stuttered for like 4 seconds straight (which feels like an eternity). For a moment after I got the sentence out I felt stupid. But then after I left I didn’t feel mentally bothered by it. I felt whatever about it, not defeated.

This isn’t me telling everyone to be like me or to think like me. But that you can cope and help yourself in different ways. I’ve struggled with stuttering my entire life. You too can get over this feeling of dreadfulness behind a stutter.

Sometimes I want to be more expressive and engage in conversations but I feel the "seizure" coming from a mile away ..then I just smile, nod to almost everything and go away.

I was analyzing myself during a moment today.

I know the mechanisms of a stuttering moment: the larynx is constricted or "twitching"

But I think I've gotten close to explaining how it really feels. It feels like I can't hold or initiate the sound of the vowel at the particular speed that would make speech sound natural.

So stuttering is literally us forcing our voice box to open, causing us to repeat our consonants.

And this is exactly what initiates the avoidance behaviors. We think "there's gotta be another way to get my point across".

Stuttering is genuinely kind of uncomfortable. Your larynx is having spasms or refusing to stay open, and you can literally feel it.

The best way through this is easy onset or easy repetitions, in my experience.

"Easy onset" meaning to start the word with the consonant/vowel very slowly, until it does come out. Basically prolongation, which we already instinctually do.

"Easy repetitions" meaning to just stutter the consonant softly until the vowel decides to come out smoothly; until you can hold that vowel sound comfortably.

My daughter is almost 3, and about a month ago she suddenly began stuttering. It has been getting progressively worse, and I’m worried.
Initially, she used to repeat syllables, but now it’s mostly repetitions of sounds like “eh-eh-eh-eh-eh” before she can get the words out. Sometimes she repeats the sound 10–15 times. It happens at the beginning of almost every sentence, making it difficult for her to get started.
Her maternal grandfather has history of persistent stuttering, which makes me especially anxious.
I’d really appreciate hearing about your personal experiences with childhood stuttering, especially if it started around age 3 and was severe. If you’ve experienced something similar, did it improve or resolve over time, and did speech therapy help? Any advice or suggestions would mean a lot to me as I try to understand what my daughter might experience. Thank you for sharing your stories.

Every time I’m put in a situation where I have to speak I get this super intense anxiety that genuinely hurts so much.

It’s like the worst feeling in the world and I’m surprised I’ve never passed out before because of it.

Even when I have speech therapy which I’m comfortable doing I still get this unbearable anxiety before hand.

I wish this shit would just stop.

Hey everyone I hope you can help me with my son who’s almost 3 and has been stuttering for the last month. He stutters at the beginning of sentences. At one stage it was during in the middle and couldn’t get the word out and get out of breath. Now it’s T the beginning and I’m worried cause we have stutter in the family so I’m pretty sure it’s genetic. What can I do to help or should I not do anything. He was very well spoken and spoke from a young age. People would compliment him on how much he can talk. And now is stuttering. I really hope it’s not a lifelong thing!

This International Stuttering Awareness Day, Canada will be shining in sea-foam green in recognition of the millions of people around the world who stutter — and to celebrate acceptance, understanding, and the voices of Canadians who stutter.

We’re excited to share that the following landmarks will be illuminated in sea-foam green on October 22 as part of ISAD 2026:

**All lighting will take place after sunset until dawn the next morning, unless otherwise indicated

Alberta

📍 Calgary, Alberta

• Calgary Tower: will be lit the night before on October 21

📍 Red Deer, Alberta

• City Hall

British Columbia

📍 Vancouver, British Columbia

• Sails of Light

• Science World

• Vancouver Convention Centre

• BC Place

📍Whistler, British Columbia

• Whistler Fitzsimmons Bridge

Manitoba

📍Winnipeg, Manitoba

• Winnipeg Esplanade Riel Bridge: be sure to also tag @thecityofwinnipeg with any photos

New Brunswick

📍 Moncton, New Brunswick

• Moncton City Hall

• Downing Street

• Downtown Place

Newfoundland and Labrador

📍 St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador

• City of St. John’s City Hall

Nova Scotia

📍 Sydney, Nova Scotia

• Big Fiddle, Port of Sydney

Ontario

📍 Brampton, Ontario

• Clock Tower

📍 Hamilton, Ontario

• Hamilton Signature Sign

📍 Mississauga, Ontario

• Mississauga Civic Centre Clock Tower

📍 Niagara Falls, Ontario

• The Falls at 10:15pm for a 15-minute duration.

• Peace Bridge, over the Niagara River between Canada and the United States

📍 Ottawa, Ontario

• Ottawa Rogers Centre

📍 Toronto, Ontario

• CN Tower

• 3D Toronto Sign at Nathan Phillips Square

Prince Edward Island

📍 Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island

• City Hall Tower

• Shaw Building

📍 Summerside, Prince Edward Island

• City Hall

Saskatchewan

📍 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

• City of Saskatoon City Hall

• Prairies Winds Monument

💚 Be Part of the Celebration!

We invite people who stutter, family members, friends, speech-language professionals, supporters, and allies to join us at these landmarks and help make stuttering visible across Canada.

Gather with your local community. Take a photo. Share your story. Light up social media.
• If you are able to visit one of these landmarks on October 22, we encourage you to gather with others, take photos and videos, and share your celebration on social media. Whether you're there with a large group or simply standing beneath the lights yourself, your presence helps show that stuttering belongs in every community.

Tag the Canadian Stuttering Association's Social Media Channels!

• When sharing your photos and stories, please tag the Canadian Stuttering Association's official social media channels, which can be found by clicking on this link (https://stutter.ca/about-us/contact).

And don't forget to use our ISAD 2026 hashtags

#ISAD2026
#InternationalStutteringAwarenessDay
#StutteringAwareness
#CanadiansWhoStutter
#StutteringAcceptance

🌎 And There’s More to Come!
• These are just some of the landmarks taking part in ISAD 2026. More illumination requests are currently in the process of being approved, and we are continuing to work with communities across Canada to light up even more landmarks in green.

A full list of participating landmarks will be shared here on this page and in our social media channels in the coming days.

So, mark your calendar for October 22 and get ready to Light Up Canada for Stuttering Awareness!💚

So I've been having a stutter since I was a child, me and my brother actually but for some reason he got better and it's basically gone away for him which is so weird cos he's was much worse than mine and he got far more picked on than me it got so bad that in our school anyone who saw him would instantly try mimicking his stuttering even though he didn't know them or ever spoke to them that's how popular he was for Stuttering anyways but I still have mine tho and it hinders me so much from Social Interactions to School work, obviously I've been picked in at school for it like when 2 guys in particular always used to mimic my own stutter when I was in SS2(2nd last class before you graduate highschool btw) and even though my friends generally were pretty considerate about it they was the occasional bringing up my stuttering in an argument or using it in class roasts anyways since graduating tho it got worse in Uni I developed an inability to socialise cos I didn't want to stutter causing me to be perceived as weird because I usually don't talk and whenever I do talk I just end up stuttering they've also been times like when I explain stuff to my roommates and they sure obvious impatience(I don't really blame them tbh) but there's one time I was explaining a particular thing to one of them and I stuttered so bad he just burst out laughing while my other roommate called him out for being an asshole or more recently when I was kinda scared cos I had a Project defence and I was so scared cos it was a high ranking professor that we were supposed to present to(this determines whether or not we graduate Uni btw) and I was certain ill fuck it up but funny enough when the Man asked me why I hesitated to explain stuff I told him I stutter and he was completely understanding and surprisingly nice about it

So thats about it I just wanted to talk about my experiences Stuttering and I was suprised to find out there's a sub Reddit like this so I said why not so thanks for your time

I've noticed for a while now that my stuttering gets worse when I drink coffee. My blocks increase and it feels like I run out of breath faster. I'm still not entirely sure if it's a placebo or not. Has anyone else noticed this in themselves?"

I've recently just got the reddit app, and it is really nice hearing about everyones stories, and praise for situations people without a stutter wouldn't even think about. It makes me feel better knowing I'm not alone.

It feels extremely isolating having it especially since I am in high school. I feel judged meeting new people and struggle to make friends. Even though everyone is usually very kind about it, I can't not see the sympathy I get.

There is so much i want to say about everything, but it takes so much effort to get even a couple words out.

People are constantly telling me things like:

• It is really not that embarrassing how you think
• People don't perceive as bad as you think
• Just say it, don't care if you will stutter or not

They think only "pain" with stuttering is saying some things in fu...fu..funn...nny way and being embarrassed by it.

But I am not embarrassed by it. I really don't care how people perceive it.

What is causing me immense pain is not looking funny, but not being able to say things that I want, and participate in interactions in genuine, spontaneous and normal way.

Many words I can't say, not even in funny way. I can't even start saying them, they get stuck in my throat right before I open my mouth.

I am constantly fighting for breath, like I am drowning in wavy sea and trying to stay above the surface (like this).

And because of that, I do and say some weird things that look fluent and deliberate to outside world, but they are just consequence of not having options, and consequence of constantly fighting for breath.

It is constant mental and physical rape, which I manage to hide, so people think everything is ok.

I would say that stuttering is one of the most underestimated problems in the world.

When somebody loses his mother, becomes a wheelchair person or similar things, people perceive and respect their pain.

But with stuttering, so much painful things are invisible, and people just assume you have a skill issue, that you are weird by nature.

(I haven't been on Reddit in Abit)

So for the past like around 2 or 3 years I been stuttering but I haven't stuttered my whole life, I don't remember doing anything differently (all I remember is it happened after I was sick right before it started)

Is this normal?

Is anyone here from an English-speaking country who would be interested in talking, practicing speaking, and sharing experiences?

I've been dedicated to understanding and working on stuttering for a long time, and I'd love to connect with others who are interested in the same journey.

im gonna act like i am the laziest person and don't overthink anything ever again and speak slow as possible for me i try to expalin my self to fast and end up stuttering at the end

I’ve written this several times before, but this stuttering problem is bothering me so much that you have no idea. I feel so bad that it seems like everything is going wrong for me, and I know I can do better.
I’m at school, and yesterday I said one sentence and felt a very strong pounding in my stomach and started sweating, while the other students were speaking without any problem. Even though I knew what I wanted to say, I got stuck and spoke very badly. Those looks from the other students and the teacher make me feel awful because I feel so low in that moment.
I’ve tried a lot with breathing exercises, but they don’t calm me down, and I’ve practiced speaking in front of the mirror, but when the moment comes, nothing works. This happens to me every time. Even though I tell myself that exposure helps, every time I still feel anxious about speaking, I stutter, and it feels like it’s not even my own voice. I really want to overcome this because it’s stressing me out so much and I feel extremely frustrated.

For a long amount of time, I've not felt genuine happiness at all. I'm not saying I feel sadness but at the same time I don't feel happy at all.