This is the 6th post in the A to Z Blogging Challenge.
So, the letter F. In high school, I DREADED the letter F. I still do, to some extent. I’ve been an on- and off- closet-stutterer, and certain letters would bring out my stutter. Everyone who stutters or has stuttered at some point has certain letters that cause the most trouble. In my case, I struggled the most with “F” and “S”.
My stutter has gotten WAY better over the past 10 years, but sometimes it comes out if I’m nervous. In high school though, it was much worse. I dreaded those classes where the teacher would call on us at random to give the answer to our homework, out loud. I’d always try to go to the bathroom or try to look distracted so the teacher wouldn’t call on me. If I was called on and the answer started with an “F”, I’d either deliberately give the wrong answer, or I’d pretend to get confused about which question we were on and give the answer to another question. I always managed to hide my stutter. I became very good at hiding it!
These days my stutter, like I said, has improved. Still, my fear of “F” words still lurks in the shadows. The stutter can return at any time, at any moment. But I have better control, and unlike in high school, today I’d feel comfortable admitting outright that I stutter. That almost always makes it go away!
I think it’s really positive that you can be open about your stutter. I’m sure it must help. ??
My cousin had a stutter when he was younger, but speech classes have helped him through. I’ve met a few people as adults who have stutters, but I’m not sure if a certain letter messed them up! It’s interesting to know that – I thought stutters happened when people had trouble getting a word out or were nervous, and lisps were for certain letters. Thanks for being open about your stutter and teaching me something!
– Allison
http://www.allisonwrites.com