Since I was seven years old, I have had a stutter. I never know what to say when curious minds asked how it started, though.
I was always a sensitive, nervous kid with a tendency to worry about things that never ended up happening. In any case, stuttering has been a cog, if you will, for much of my life. That’s not to say, however, that it defines me.
Greg over the years
My name is Greg O'Grady and I am a person who stutters. I can also introduce myself as a husband, step father, step grandfather, brother, uncle and a manager, etc..
In 2017 I retired after a 35-year career in management with the City of Toronto Long-Term Care Homes and Services. Retirement affords me with Time and Opportunity – Time to reflect, to travel, to rejuvenate, to resume neglected interests and hobbies and to move forward to the next Chapter of life: the Second Act.
Christina Spicer
I knew something was different about me. No one wanted to tell me, but I knew I didn’t sound the same as everyone else. When I reflect back on my adolescence, I would describe it in one simple word: alone. I didn’t understand why I was different, how I could fix it, or why me? Despite the sincerity of my questions, I posed them to a silent audience, from an empty stage, in what felt like a dark room.
Lt(N) Michael BennettMy name is Michael Bennett and I’ve stuttered since I can remember, and I’m 57 years old! There’s been a lot said about how this condition can affect people and I truly feel for everyone who has to deal with it. But it shouldn’t be used to stop you from doing what you want to do. I used the term “deal with" instead of “suffer with" for a specific reason, because we can control the words that apply to us.
Victoria, BC seems to be a drawcard for many people, not only from within Canada but other parts of the world as well. Like many Australians that now call Victoria, BC home, it was a long journey to get here but not as long as the journey my speech has taken me on and continues to do so.
Ask anyone and they’ll likely tell you that being thirteen is an incredibly difficult time. There is so much going on at that point in a kid's life. We are growing at a pace that's impossibly fast. The girls seem to be WAY ahead of the boys. Us boys are standing on the opposite side of the dance floor, teetering between growing tall and getting mustaches and not being able to talk without our voices cracking. Needless to say, things are a little socially awkward at this point in our lives.