14 Things Only People Who Stammer Will Understand

Being a stammerer can feel pretty weird and incredibly isolating. If you stammer, then you're probably the only person you know who does. 

And while roughly 1% of the global population stammers, the reality is that it doesn't seem to be enough to make stammering familiar in everyday life. In fact, it seems like most people just don't know how to react to the way you talk.

A part of the problem is the pretty poor treatment of stammering in pop culture. The first character I ever saw to share my speaking difficulties was Billy Bibbit in One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest: he’s a nervous wreck, a mental patient, and he kills himself in the end. Not much of a role model for young stammerers everywhere. 

Neither is Michael Palin's bumbling character in A Fish Called Wanda. At least since then we’ve had The King’s Speech, and thank goodness for that, because it’s much easier on the soul to compare oneself to King Colin Firth than Porky Pig.

Since pop culture can’t explain stammering to the masses, you just have to do it yourself. So here’s to bridging the gap between the fluently speaking world and those of us who stammer...

Most stammerers find it particularly difficult to say their own name. This one can really screw you up. Sometimes, you just can’t avoid saying it. And you can’t change it either. (Even if you did, you’d likely develop a stammer for your new name anyway. We’re funny like that.)

This makes quick interactions with strangers feel booby-trapped. Making appointments, giving your name at a restaurant, and the absolute worst: introducing yourself to cool people.