There's a small moment that happens often when I'm in conversation with someone new. I'll be halfway through a sentence, maybe ordering coffee, maybe introducing myself in a meeting, and the person across from me will start to lean in. Their eyes get a little wider. Their mouth opens slightly, like they're about to help. And then, often, they do help. They finish my sentence for me. They mean well. They almost always mean well. But what I want to talk about in this post is wh

As a person who stutters, you learn early that some of the heaviest struggles are the ones no one can see. To the outside world, a stutter may appear as pauses or repetitions. But internally, there is often a constant negotiation between clear thoughts and speech that does not always flow the way it should. The sting of being misunderstood. The embarrassment of an intense moment of stuttering. The frustration of not being able to defend yourself when it matters most. Over tim