Good afternoon 👋
Hope you had a fab weekend and are ready for another busy week ahead!
At the end of each year, I like to take a bit of time to reflect on a number of different areas in my life, one of which surrounds my stutter and how my speech fluency has improved over the last 12 months. This is exactly what we’re going to be doing today, so let’s get into it.
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My stutter has played an enormous role in my life. When I look back on the last couple of years, I can’t help but feel proud of how far I’ve come with it, the progress I’ve made on my journey to speech fluency has been incredible to see, it really has been.
One of the biggest compliments that I have been fortunate enough to receive a number of times lately is how people forget that I have a stutter, or if they’ve only just met me for the first time, they don’t realise I have the condition until I mention it.
For someone who had to build their speech management techniques from rock bottom during the pandemic to reach this point, wow. If I look back to a young Sweeney in 2020, he never thought he’d get himself to where he is today. When you’ve spent so long working to have a voice, and for it to be heard, valued and taken seriously, you really do understand the power and importance of inclusion.
It’s worth noting that, while I’ve gotten so much better, this is by no means a fully resolved area. My speech is something that I’ll always have to work on, with it evolving alongside me as a person. This year has illuminated something new for me to work on, which I have mentioned on the page once or twice before. Here it is:
– Managing my speech in more unexpected circumstances
What I mean by this is, on the whole, my speech is really good now. However, when I see someone whom I haven’t seen in years, I wasn’t expecting to see anything like that; my fluency does fluctuate massively. I’m not 100% sure on what the solution is to this just yet, but I’m sure it’ll come to me in time; there’s no need to worry whatsoever.
Plus, if we take a look at 2025, I managed to hit my target of three public speaking opportunities – one return to the University of Reading to speak to students, an impromptu Toastmasters-inspired activity at one of our weekend trips with the Undefinable community and the podcast I did about my friend Gareth.
As for what 2026 has in store for my speech, who knows? All I can say, for sure, is that there’ll be more improvements, learnings and ways to raise the awareness of stuttering wherever I can 🙂
That’s all for today’s blog. How’s your week ahead looking? Do you enjoy seeing blogs like this on the page? Are there any topics you’d like me to explore over the next couple of weeks?
I’d love to hear your thoughts 😊
Thanks for reading and I hope you have a lovely day!
James
Sweeney's Blogs 