Stuttering With Immediate Family vs Extended Family

  Stuttering Within Family

  As a stutterer, your family is normally your biggest support group, but each family copes with a stutterers stutter differently. An example being, my father would always finish my sentences without the intention of doing wrong. When my family went to a stuttering workshop, they learned common things that people do to a person that stutters;

-Finishing Sentences

-Loosing Eye contact with the stutterer

-Or saying unhelpful phrases such as but not limited to, "calm down."

    My immediate family such as my siblings, father and mother all know the proper etiquette of how to cope and deal with a stutterer. This did not happen overnight; my family went through a process of understanding. My siblings would constantly ask questions in a way so that they could understand how to approach the subject and how it feels. People assume that asking questions about a stutter is rude, but it is actually great to do. Asking questions opens doors to knowledge and support for the cause. I am fortunate enough to have a mother that also stutterers; she is able to provide advice and judiciousness. 

    When I visit extended family such as my aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc; having a stutter is a little more complex. Since stuttering is not a widely known disability and is seem as taboo, nobody wants to address or ask questions about it. Instead, they state intrusive remarks and give looks as if I am deficient. Another problem encountered often is when I do advertise my stutter and inform them about it, the response I often get is, "oh, I stutter too," or, "just try calming down and taking a deep breath." These phrases are unhelpful and irrelevant to the problem at hand. Instead of the listener taking in the information and trying to understand, what normally happens is that they try to simplify and relate to times they have stuttered.

    Stuttering is Not Stuttering?

    When you hear the word stutter or stammer, you automatically relate it to time you get nervous or when you forget a word. This problem is one that makes the chain of problems I have stated earlier. When a person who stutters tries advertising or informing people about it, the listener, most of the time does not comprehend that stuttering is a disability and affects that person's every aspect of life. Many advocates in the stuttering community have voiced their concerns dealing with this; changing the name of the disability would give credibility to the stutter and help the listener further understand the full extent of a stutter.