Early strings performer Dongmyung Ahn specializes in the study of liturgy and Jewish-Christian relations in the music of the medieval and early modern periods in Europe. She teaches at New York University and Queens College and is working on a memoir about music and mental health crises in a Korean immigrant family.

Tell us about Yourself

I grew up mostly in Ohio and New Jersey, and live now in NYC. I’m an early string player (mostly baroque violin) and teach music history at colleges in NYC. Besides playing the violin, I love findingx fun food to eat or cook, drinking tea, and writing. I think I’ve been able to enjoy my career simply by not giving up.

Do you remember when you first began to stutter?

It was in fourth grade, I had a couple of hot-tempered teachers who frightened me. I had a little bit of speech therapy, but not much.

I was mostly afraid of meeting new people and having them ask me my name. The “D" sound is hardest for me to say so I always got stuck. I never wanted to raise my hand to answer questions in class. But with people who knew me, I knew they didn’t mind that I stuttered so talked. I may have even been a chatterbox as a child. A friend in college gave me the nickname “D” which is easy for me to say, so that has helped a lot with meeting new people. When I was growing up, it kept me quiet around people I didn’t know well. Sometimes it can feel like people don’t know what to do when I am stuttering. I didn’t want people to feel uncomfortable and I didn’t want to feel uncomfortable, so I wouldn’t talk very much.

Has your stuttering gotten worse or better since you were younger? How?

Gosh, maybe it has gotten better or at least I’m not as self conscious about it. I don’t think it’s gotten worse.

How did/does stuttering affect you in your career?

Well, as I wrote in an essay in Huffington Post recently, it has tried to keep me from doing what I do which is public speaking as a college professor. I still stutter through lectures, but my students don’t seem to mind. I’ve been teaching for more than 15 years so I guess the stuttering hasn’t gotten the better of me!

What do you do to control or manage it, if anything?

The only thing that I’ve found that keeps it at status quo is getting enough sleep. I find that when I am tired, my stutter can get out of control.

What are some challenges stuttering has presented to you?

Lecturing and giving talks, which is ironic because that’s my job. I’ve gotten better at pacing myself in giving talks at academic conferences so I now don’t stutter as much.  But I still stutter in lectures. I think my greatest accomplishment with regard to stuttering is my job as a teacher.

Based upon your experiences, what would you like to tell children who stutter?

I would say three things: 1.  take a breath when you feel it coming or even if you are stuck, 2. people can wait for you to speak, and 3. don’t give up.

Based upon your experiences, what would you tell parents of children who stutter?

My mom always assured me to relax which was good, but hard to do in the moment. And just wait for your child to get the word out. If they want help (sometimes I want the other person to just blurt out the word for me!), that works too. But mostly, the fact that your child (or friend, or parent or person behind the desk) has something worth listening to even if takes some time to say it. Having a stutter won’t keep you from having a full and fulfilled life. That being said, if you have opportunities that can alleviate it, speech therapy for instance, by all means take advantage of it.

What else should we know?

Stuttering doesn’t need to keep you from doing what you love, or keep you from making friends or keep you from asking someone at the grocery store for help finding something. It’s part of who we are, and something that we can learn to accept. Acceptance makes it easier to live with a stutter.

From the Fall 2025 Magazine [1]