What is your greatest accomplishment with regard to stuttering?
My greatest accomplishment with regard to stuttering is my ability to not let it define or limit my dreams. As a child, I distinctly remember having an internal battle of “how can you be a doctor if you have a stutter?” That was the toughest battle I had to face as a child, because the world around me would validate those fears with the jokes and bullying. At the same time, I was shrouded by affirmations, encouragement and love by my family and friends who believed in me, even in moments I doubted myself. I remember the day that I declined speech therapy at school and I told my mom that I did not want to “fix” my stutter, but I wanted to learn how to embrace it and be confident in it. From that moment on, I poured confidence into myself to not allow my stutter to ever limit my thoughts, and that was the greatest accomplishment in regards to my stutter.
Based upon your experiences, what would you like to tell children who stutter?
To all the children who stutter, I have 3 major things that I have learned and still practice to this day.
1) Your voice matters just as much as the next child. Whether it takes you 5 seconds or 5 minutes to say it, your voice and your story deserve to be told from your voice. Your most powerful tool will be your voice, so embrace it, love it and share it with the world
2) Give yourself grace and be patient with yourself. You will have days that your stutter may be worse than other days, but allow yourself that space to know that it is okay and you deserve to be heard on your worst days, just as much as your best days.
3) Be kind to yourself. Stuttering can give us manyself-disparaging thoughts, but during those moments is when we must lean more into our kind thoughts.
Based upon your experiences, what would you tell parents of children who stutter?
To the parents of children who stutter, there are 3 things that you can do to best support your child who stutters:
1) Practice active listening. It can sometimes feel that the world is impatient and does not have the attention span to listen to your child when they are having a hard time with their speech. So when your child is speaking, actively engage them. Put your phone down, give them eye contact and directly address their concerns.
2) Provide a safe space. It is exhausting for a child to maneuver through a world where they feel judged from the moment that they open their mouth to speak. From the time your child walks out of your door until they return home, they are in a constant intrinsic battle with themselves and/or extrinsic battle with society. So when they get home, provide them with a space to know that their stutter is heard and it is not what defines them. Be a space of grace, nurturing and support.
3) Be supportive. Your support will give your child the confidence that they need to tackle any hurdle that arises on their journey. On the days that they feel most exhausted because of their speech, show them what grace, love and patience look like so that they can carry that with them through life.
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STUTTERING FOUNDATION Q & A with ZACKARY BROWN (cont'd.)
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