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The Stages We Inhabit: A Lived Experience With Stuttering
Tim McCarren1, Ginger Collins2
1Hopkins High School, Minnetonka, MN.
American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology
|May 21, 2026
Summary
A speech-language pathologist who stutters shares his journey, revealing that a "freed voice" in stuttering therapy comes from accepting oneself, not from eliminating disfluencies. This personal narrative informs a call for acceptance-based approaches in clinical practice.
Area of Science:
- Speech-language pathology
- Communication sciences and disorders
Background:
- Stuttering is a complex communication disorder affecting individuals across their lifespan.
- Therapeutic approaches to stuttering have evolved, with ongoing debate regarding the primary goals of intervention.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore the evolving concept of a "freed voice" for persons who stutter through a personal narrative.
- To examine how therapeutic approaches and individual perspectives on stuttering change across the lifespan.
- To inform clinical practice by reflecting on the author's journey as a speech-language pathologist (SLP) who stutters.
Main Methods:
- An autobiographical narrative detailing personal experiences with stuttering from childhood to adulthood.
- Organization of the narrative around distinct stages of attitudes toward stuttering, therapeutic interventions, and underlying philosophies.
- Identification of five key stages in the author's journey: unawareness, cure-seeking, concealment/avoidance, acceptance, exploration/improvisation, and integration.
Main Results:
- The author's lived experience highlights five distinct stages in managing stuttering.
- Key findings emphasize the importance of early positive messaging and the limitations of solely fluency-focused goals.
- An authentic "freed voice" emerges from releasing shame and societal pressures, rather than eliminating stuttering itself.
Conclusions:
- Advocates for a paradigm shift in stuttering intervention, prioritizing acceptance-based approaches over traditional fluency goals.
- Clinical implications include the need for SLPs to examine their own beliefs and prioritize positive attitude development.
- A "freed voice" is defined as freedom from emotional and behavioral constraints, not freedom from stuttering.
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