That is the advice of university lecturer and proud stutterer Grant Meredith. 

Wednesday is International Stuttering Awareness Day. 

Mr Meredith said the day was about raising awareness of stuttering on a global scale, to remind people with the condition and everyone else it is no barrier to success.

“There are still a lot of myths and misunderstandings about stuttering,” Mr Meredith said. 

“A lot of those myths have an element of truth but they don’t tell the whole story. 

“Like the myth that people who stutter avoid jobs with a high level of communication. 

“But in this modern world you cannot avoid communication, however true communication skills hinge a lot less on oral communication today. 

“The spoken word is only part of the message now. People focus on the message rather than the method.

“Having said that I love talking in front of students. 

“I like talking more than a lot of people who don’t stutter.

“I still stutter but I stutter with a smile and it puts people at ease.”

Mr Meredith is the program co-ordinator for the Bachelor of Computer Games and Digital Media course at Federation University Australia. 

He will participate in a worldwide online stuttering awareness conference on Wednesday with people who stutter and others such as speech pathologists.

At least 30-40 papers from around the world will be presented, ranging from academic papers to opinion pieces and personal stories. 

The website is already open at www.isad.isastutter.org.

“My co-authored paper discusses the acceptance of stuttering within the community of people who stutter, and the repercussions,” Mr Meredith said. 

“I think we need a united voice and to respect that everyone who stutters is on their own journey.

“Anecdotally there is still some discrimination against people who stutter. 

“There is a myth that people who stutter are less intelligent, whereas it is more about shyness. 

“What we’re trying to say is you can stutter but you can also be successfully understood. 

“Without being cynical, a lot of politicians have ‘ums’ and ‘ahs’ in their speeches, and people don’t think too much about it.”

The general cause of stuttering is yet to be discovered. 

It is most likely of neurological origin, according to Mr Meredith, but until the cause is isolated there is unlikely to be a cure. 

Speech therapy helps with control and management. 

That said, Mr Meredith insisted people who stutter should not be at all embarrassed about it. 

“People who stutter should take pride in it,” he said.

“We should take pride in it because it is not a shameful act at all.”

gavin.mcgrath@fairfaxmedia.com.au