Did I Stutter? (Ep. 562)

stuttering, StutterTalk
Caryn, Joel and Roisin

Caryn Herring, Joel Korte and Roisin McManus of the StutterTalk B Team discuss some of the ideas and positions presented on the Did I Stutter website.

While The B Team embrace the overall “wisdom” of the Did I Stutter community, they also push back on the tone and on some of the absolute positions presented on the site. Joel Korte reminds listeners that “stuttering isn’t black and white… [It has] lots of shades of grey.” Caryn Herring shares her concern that some of the positions at Did I Stutter strongly suggest “this is how I should feel” with Joel agreeing and reminding listeners that the stuttering community has a history of people suggesting how we should think and feel about stuttering. Caryn shares that “In some ways I agree with them [the Did I Stutter community] and then at the same time it does feel like we are trying to fight this fight against what everybody else thinks rather than doing something for ourselves. It seems like a lot of thought and work to change how everyone else is rather than just focussing that on us.”

One of the Did I Stutter positions discussed on today’s episode is: “Stuttering is only a problem—in fact is only abnormal—because our culture places so much value on efficiency and self-mastery.” While the B Team accept some aspects of this position, they also challenge it by discussing their experiences and frustrations with feeling unable to get their words out and unable to communicate at times because of stuttering.

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