The Youth Exchange changed me in so many ways

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Attendees at the Youth Exchange 2024 (courtesy of Stamily)

Throughout this week we're featuring articles from people who went on this August's Erasmus+ Youth Exchange in the Netherlands. Here, Liv Wilson tells us why she went and what she got out of it.

I decided to apply for the Youth Exchange in the Netherlands this August as even though I'm part of the stammering community already, I didn't know many young people who stammer and felt really isolated because of this. I also love travelling and meeting people from other countries so when I heard it was an inter-cultural exchange, I was even more excited to apply.

I've been to a similar event for blind people before so I vaguely knew what to expect, but this Youth Exchange was so much better than I could have ever hoped for. I was nervous before I arrived as I didn't know whether my other disabilities would be accepted, but I was supported by everyone.

Workshops

The theme of the Youth Exchange 2024 was 'Outside the Mask' and all the workshops were based around this. There was a workshop where we created our own masks that represented how we felt others saw us or how we saw ourselves. I loved the idea of this as it was really interesting creating a physical mask to represent my internal mask. Mine was a wall made out of clay as my stammer often slows me down, which is hard as I have lots of racing thoughts so when I block there's a disconnect between my brain and body.

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Masks made at the Youth Exchange 2024

Another workshop I really enjoyed was speaking circles, where we could speak or be silent for two minutes. I loved this because I could choose what I wanted to do within those two minutes. 

Reflections

As well as the workshops, we had daily reflections which gave us the opportunity to think about how we felt during the day and why. Discussing our reflections in pairs helped us to connect more with everyone.

There were also daily meditations focused on helping us accept stammering and ourselves. I really enjoyed these as it's taken me a long time to accept stammering and myself the way I am, and I think the meditations gave us a chance to reflect on the messages we internalise from society and question them.

As well as that, we had an open mic session where everyone shared their stammering experiences. Listening to other peoples' stories was really powerful and helped us to know we weren't alone. On the last day before leaving, we went round to each person and said something nice about them, which made us feel even more connected.

The meditations gave us a chance to reflect on the messages we internalise from society and question them.

My biggest highlight, however, was talking to lots of other people who stammer and sharing our experiences while making new friends in the process.

More confident

Going on the Youth Exchange has changed me in so many ways it's impossible to describe adequately, but I'll do my best. Since coming back, I feel more able to set boundaries for myself and I've been thinking a lot about who I am and what I want to do with my life, with regards to work and being more involved in the stammering community.

Since coming back I feel more confident in disclosing my stammer to people and asking them to wait.

Before the Youth Exchange, although I'd mostly accepted my stammer, I was still afraid that people wouldn't wait for me to speak. But since coming back I feel more confident in disclosing my stammer to people and asking them to wait. Having said that, it felt amazing to know that everyone at the Exchange waited for me to speak.

Life-changing

For anyone wanting to go on the next Youth Exchange but feeling unsure, it's scary to do something you've never done before, but it's so worth it. It will be life-changing in ways you won't expect! Not only will you connect with other people who stammer and make life-long friends, you'll learn things about yourself that you never expected.

The only way it could be improved would be for STAMMA to help more people go; to keep giving young people the opportunity to experience how special the Youth Exchanges are.

Going to the event has inspired me to give back to the stammering community that has given me so much. I want to do this by helping people live free of the shame and fear around stammering, and eventually have my own theatre company for people who stammer so they can stammer with confidence, because everyone deserves to be heard and is worth listening to. Who wants to speak fluently when stammering is just a normal variation of speech?

Fancy going to the Youth Exchange 2025?

We're currently hoping to help 3-4 young adults go to the next Youth Exchange on the 21^st to 29^th July 2025. If you are a young person who stammers aged between 18 and 30, keep an eye on our website or become a STAMMA member for free/join our mailing list so we can let you know how to apply for a place.

Read more reflections from the Youth Exchange by Benita and Liss & Marilena.