Should Stuttering Be Considered a Disablility?

I have been thinking about this question. From Webster's Dictionary, one way to describe a disability is a personal characteristic that gives the "inability to pursue an occupation [or do something you want] because of a physical or mental impairment."

This word makes people think of the blind, the deaf, the crippled, the autistic, etc. These are severe cases no doubt, but some people go as far as to put stuttering in this category. I am very skeptical about this, but then again for some people, I can't really blame them. Stuttering is most certainly a minor disability for many.

When I was a little kid, I really didn't care about my stuttering. Yes, I noticed it and it was a little severe, but it wasn't really worth all the concern people put into it. At least that's what I thought back then. You see, back then I was very young, and life was so much more simpler. The need for speaking wasn't so great and I wasn't concerned with interacting with others very much. So I felt that stuttering did not hamper the things I wanted to do, which was just to read, listen, watch films, and play with bugs, plants, and animals. Stuttering was no disability to me. In fact, it just made me special and gave me the childish opportunity to leave class for therapy and an excuse to not participate in class.

I know many people now who are very much like how I was back then. They may not stutter, but they are extremely quiet, like doing things on their own or not at all, and seem uninterested in talking to most people. They avoid conversations and most things that involve unnecessary contact with other people. These people are present in just about every classroom. I think if they had a speech impediment, it would not be a big problem at all. In fact, I think they could use stuttering as a sweet thing to blame for their desire to be left alone.

As my life progressed, things changed and I became a much more outgoing person. I just loved talking to quality people. I tried to get involved in all sorts of activities and affairs that interested me. This is where my stuttering really got in the way and I started to recognize it as a disability.

It became a disability for me because it was severe enough to significantly hamper my success in several of the things I wanted to do. It especially made me feel left out and embarrassed. For some people, it is much worse. Their stuttering is usually much more severe and it affects their life a lot more. I have personally met or read about people whose stuttering has made their jobs a lot more difficult than they are, and some even lost their jobs due to their speech impediment. In the most extreme cases, stuttering had some frighteningly negative mental and social effects, some leading to suicidal tendencies. For them, this is a horrible disability and deserves much attention.

As far as I know, there are laws where I live (California, USA) against discrimination for something like stuttering. So it does happen and can be legally seen as a disability. To the individual, it depends on the case. It is not just black and white. It's not either you stutter or you don't. This is the same for other 'disabilities' like deafness. Some people are a little deaf or can't hear certain sound frequencies that others can, while some are completely deaf and can't hear a sound. The effect of this depends on the person as much as stuttering does.

In conclusion, I say stuttering is an overall relatively moderate disability that has some kind of recognizable effect on most of the people that have it and can sometimes have extreme cases. As for me, there are worse things I could've been born with and stuttering has been a lifelong experience that has profoundly contributed to the building of my character.