Stuttering Advocacy Journey - Media Presence

 My Stuttering Advocacy Journey

Media Presence 

How did it Start?

    When I was twelve years old I attended a stuttering management camp; I learned modification techniques and most importantly, the importance of advertising my stutter. This led to me advocating for myself and my stutter starting at a young age. I realized that nobody would fight my battles or make this journey easier, and that I had to take it into my own hands. I started my stuttering advocacy journey by simply telling my friends and teachers that I have a stutter. This would then lead to me starting my blog and hosting stuttering awareness weeks at my schools, and then posting a few articles on instagram, leading to a TikTok page that is a stuttering safe zone, providing information and insight on stuttering. 

Gaining a Following 

    When I first started TikTok, I had about 200 followers. My views were from 300-500; I was an average teenager with a small following. I posted one TikTok about stuttering, and it did relatively well compared to my previous videos. I realized I could use my page as a platform for stuttering, similar to my blog. I started posting videos to audio sounds on TikTok regarding my stuttering experiences as a teenager. 

    I later posted a video of me calling a restaurant and advertising my stutter and then asking a few simple questions. My video received a lot of support and did very well. I continued to post more videos regarding stuttering, mainly using TikTok audios because I was hesitant to talk and use an original audio (audio of my own voice) of my own. This summer, I went to the same stuttering management program I had went to 4 years prior; I am now 16. This time around, I have been facing hardships and trials relating to my stutter. I had just moved and switched schools at the end of my sophomore year. I thought I had a good handle on my stutter, but I was having a hard time advertising my stutter and making friends because of it. I spoke about this during the stuttering management program and realized that social media is a good way to speak to people my age about stuttering. 

    After the Program, I started to record my maintenance plan (activities done after program to keep up with speech therapy). My maintenance plan includes calling people, going through drive thrus, conducting surveys and real-life situations all while advertising my stutter. I first recorded my experience of going through a Starbucks drive thru and advertising; I then posted this on TikTok and received positive feedback and account activity. I then posted my next video which would become viral. This video was me going through a Chick-Fil-A drive thru and advertising my stutter while ordering a large order. I was visibly anxious and timid, but carried on. This video received a wide variety of comments, the majority being supportive. This video made my account blow up from 200 followers to over 160k followers. Since then I have been posting a variety of videos related to stuttering and answering questions from my comments. 

The Purpose

    Ever since I was young I felt like when I told people I stuttered, they never really understood what that entails. The average person is not very knowledgable about basic information pertaining to stuttering. I always wished that stuttering was as talked about compared to other neurological disorders. The purpose on my media platforms is to provide information and insight about stuttering, but most importantly to be a public figure that people can relate to. For a long time, the only person that I met that also stuttered was my mother, and I got the unique opportunity to go to a camp to meet other teenage stutterers. I want people who are going through similar struggles to feel heard and seen. As a person who stutters, I always felt like I was alone and that nobody understood how I felt. My platform gives people a safe space to reach out and share their difficulties and to most importantly... ask questions! 

More Personal Level

    I still struggle with my stutter, especially with feeling heard and seeing it as something I should hide. Me having a platform with a supportive following and audience has also helped me; I feel like I am not only making a change but I have a support group. I have always wanted to create a change, and I am so glad that I could impact so many lives. I am very grateful that I have the opportunity to help people and spread stuttering awareness. And I am thankful to everyone who has joined me on this stuttering journey.