Let the Stuttering Rip (Ep. 577)

stuttering, StutterTalk
Darren Johnson

Darren Johnson joins Peter Reitzes to discuss letting his stuttering rip. Mr. John shares his experiences of stuttering openly, focussing on “shame busting,” the challenge of showing the world his open stuttering, the chore and physical effort of stuttering, his desire to engage and communicate more productively with the world, how being African American impacts his experience of stuttering and so much more.

Today on StutterTalk, Mr. Johnson shares, “The pressure that I feel to be fluent is mostly the result of me wanting to be like everybody else…Look, this is what it is. You stutter; you can either accept it or wallow in it…Fluency has just become something that I find is not necessary and I would rather just be happy with being myself and doing the things that I want to do despite my stuttering.”

This is StutterTalk’s fourth and final episode in a series featuring New York City members of the National Stuttering Association (NSA). On Sunday, May 15th, the NYC Chapters of the NSA will hold their first local stuttering conference. It will be a day to support, educate, and empower stutterers as they explore The Past, Present, and Future of StutteringEvent details here. Mr. Johnson is asked to discuss this workshop which is expected to draw 50-60 people who stutter.

Darren Johnson is a 22 year old graduate student who is originally from Maryland and joins us today from Manhattan where he is pursuing a PhD in chemical biology at Weill Cornell Medical College.