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 what that small,...

Think about the last time someone hesitated before speaking in a meeting.What did you assume about them in that moment? Across the UAE and the wider region, many people who stutter are defined not by hesitation but by vibrancy. They are often lively, humorous, and deeply engaging individuals who, in a different context, would naturally command a room or lead a conversation. Personality is not dictated by fluency. Confidence, charisma, and leadership potential exist just as frequently among...

The phrase “overcoming your stutter” sounds empowering. It’s framed as motivation. It’s often accompanied by stories of celebrities who are said to have “beaten” their stutter and gone on to achieve success. But beneath this well-meaning encouragement lies a deeper assumption. To overcome something implies conquest. It suggests an adversary to defeat, a flaw to eliminate, a weakness to correct. When applied to stuttering, this framing quietly creates a hierarchy: Fluent speech = success...