Be Who You Are and Love Yourself


by Jace, age 9 Big Lake, MN


Hi! I am Jace. I’m 10 years old and in the 5th grade. I’m just like everybody


else: I like football,


math, and reading. One thing that makes me different though, is that I stutter. It doesn’t affect me when people pick on my stuttering.


I’ve learned strategies to help me have fluent speech, and also how to deal with unkind people. I’ve learned that if I’m confident in myself, it doesn’t matter whether my speech is fluent or not. I like to hang out with kids that like me for me.


Some of the strategies that help me are:


talking on one breath,


going slow/slow talk, smooth onset, cancellation, getting a good


20


night’s sleep, and thinking before I talk. Not all of these work all the time, but that’s okay!


I’ve learned that I’m not the only one in the world that stutters. I used to think I was! It turns out that there are four other kids in my school that also stutter. Since I’m the oldest, I want to be a good role model for those kids.


Someday, I would like to talk to groups of kids that stutter, to give them inspiration. My message would be: “Live your life like you don’t stutter.” Stuttering doesn’t have to be a disability. It’s just a part of who you are. It’s a part that makes you unique and special.


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