"Prove to me that you stutter!"
Some time ago, I put up a video on my YouTube channel titled, "We Stutter". I did this so that I could explain how I achieved fluency in my YouTube videos and also so that I could reach out to other YouTube users who might also suffer from a Persistent Developmental Stutter. If you watch my videos, you will rarely see any stuttering. That is because I edit the stuttering completely out of the videos and what results is a video rant that is fast, closely edited and appears to be the ramblings of a person on high doses of caffeine. That was my goal. It is my way of being able to partake in an activity that would otherwise be impossible to do with any real fluency.
Mostly, I have received positive responses to the video, and most of those come from fellow stutterers/stammerers. But, I've noticed that there are some people who don't believe that I actually stutter and some of them have sent me private messages to this effect and have asked me to send them video files of me stuttering…so that they can personally verify that I am actually a stutterer. I find this to be more than just a little rude and presumptuous. One guy accused me of riding on the backs of stutterers to achieve success or fame.
Success or fame? FIRST of all, that video is the ONLY video I've ever made about stuttering. You would have to search to even find it. It's buried under more than a hundred more videos that I have filmed since.
SECOND, what kind of fame would I possibly be attempting to achieve? I've never seen a person achieve YouTube success (or any other kind, for that matter) by virtue of a stutter. My "fame" on YouTube has come about by my regular comedy videos…not from some public service announcement about stuttering. That video has gotten just over 33,000 views, so I'm not earning any significant amount of ad revenue from it.
In the video, I explain exactly how I achieve fluency in my videos and I also explain exactly why I made the video. It had nothing at all to do with fame or money. The video was made long before I become a YouTube partner, so most of the views haven't earned me one cent.
I made the video because I think it is important for all of us to highlight our personal achievements as stutterers so that we can instill even a small amount of hope, inspiration and pride in ourselves as we struggle through our daily lives with stuttering. If that has been achieved for even one viewer (and it HAS)…then I am pleased with the effort. For the rest of you who don't believe me...you can so suck eggs. Yeah...I said it. :)
2 comments:
You should visit a performance of Our Time Theatre or Camp Our Time. The goal is always expression and not fluency. As a mom of a member of the company I can tell you that you will laugh, cry and everything in between. It is painful to read that you have to edit yourself. It is like people who lighten their skin. I'm sure your true voice is beautiful. It is just a different rhythm. Many fluent people are prejudiced against those who do not sound like them, but you should not cater to that view. It is no different than any other type of prejudice. Come see the kids perform and maybe you will be inspired!
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