SpecialChronicles.com

Today I’d like to take a moment to talk about the term of a speech disorder, or stuttering, and the term disability.  Is stuttering a disability?  This was the topic of a podcast that I listened to earlier this week.  The Stuttering is Cool podcast is produced and hosted by my friend Daniele Rossi, from Canada.  The question “is stuttering a disability?” was the topic of this week’s episode of the Stuttering is Cool podcast.

I was born three and a third months premature with a lot of medical and developmental problems that I had to endure.  As a result, I have learning disabilities (LD) and a speech disorder.  Today we’re not going to go in depth on LD, but rather the speech disorder.  Often times, a speech disorder is referred to as stuttering.  In speaking it is hard to be able to get sounds and words out or even stumbling over words is a challenge.  According to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, a speech disorder is “when a person is unable to produce speech sounds correctly or fluently, or has problems with his or her voice.”

Whenever I am talking to someone, or even in class, and am struggling to produce sounds and on words, it can be a challenge.  Sometimes it’s frustrating when trying to communicate.  You hear other people around you who are talking just fine without stammering over their words.  I don’t let this stammer get me down.  I’ve actually come to recognize that this speech disorder is a part of who I am.  In everyday life, whether I’m communicating with my family, friends, on podcasts, or public speaking and I stumble over words, I don’t let that hold me back.  Even with this challenge that I endure, it’s not something to struggle over.  Yes, it’s a struggle to get words out or to stumble over sounds, but with a little bit of patience, the words will come.

Have you met anyone who has a speech disorder/stutters?  Do you consider stuttering/speech disorder to be a disability?  Share your thoughts in the comments below or on the podcast by leaving some voicemail feedback–either by calling+1-630-384-9137 or by clicking the “send voicemail” button on the righthand side of the page.