Daniel's story - video transcript

Living with a stutter: finding my voice

To have a voice that you can't use is a really trapping feeling.

For 12 months I didn't speak. I felt isolated and worthless.

So a stutter is a neurological misfire in the brain.

I have to manually remind myself to breathe every single time I talk.

Bullying throughout high school was a daily occurrence.

It's the most isolated I've ever felt in my entire life.

Being angry at myself for not being able to maintain friendships and essentially being angry at myself for who I was, who I am.

The only reason I'm here today is because my mom and my partner convinced me I had to seek help and convinced me that I'm, I'm worthy.

Recently I've accepted my stutter, not as who I am, except as a quirk. It's just a small part of me.

I have some really special relationships with friends and family in my village that I've created around myself.

For the first time in a long time I was actually living rather than surviving.

I went a year without saying a word and today I'm as vocal as ever.