A moment that changed me: My stammer made life a misery – then a song gave me back my voice
As a teenager, I was so ashamed of my speech disability that even my family didn’t know about it. When Scatman John came on the radio, celebrating his own stammer in a hit about self-esteem, I knew I had to meet him For most of my life, I had one goal: don’t get found out. I was a covert stammerer (or stutterer). Nobody realised I had a speech disability, because whenever I felt I was going to…
I was a teenager, ashamed of my speech disability. Even my family was unaware of my stammer. My goal was to remain undetected, never to be found out. I became a covert stammerer, avoiding certain sounds, words, and situations to appear fluent. I never used the phone, ordered easy-to-say meals in restaurants, skipped reading aloud in school, and endured relentless bullying due to being a shy, geeky redhead with braces.
My life seemed bleak, with no prospects for a good job, relationship, or escape. Then, in the summer of 1995, a song on my dad's car radio changed everything.
Written by urgent.news from Guardian Health's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
