I stopped introducing myself with an apology for my stutter

Dear Delyara, I stutter, especially on words beginning with my own name. For years, I introduced myself by saying, “Sorry, I have a stutter,” before I had even spoken enough for anyone to notice. Speech therapy helped me with techniques, but the bigger work was learning that fluency was not the price of deserving someone’s patience. I started removing the apology. At first, silence during a block felt enormous. Yesterday, I introduced myself at a professional event to a group of eight people. My name got stuck exactly where I feared it would. I stayed with it. Nobody finished the word for me. Nobody walked away. One woman waited, then introduced herself normally. The conversation continued. Self-esteem has not cured my stutter. It has changed the meaning of those seconds when speech takes longer. They are no longer evidence that I have inconvenienced the room. They are simply the time my voice sometimes needs to arrive.