Some experiences of people who stutter are universal. However, the intersection of being a person who stutters and being Japanese American is likely to yield unique perspectives that can be used to better inform speech-language pathologist’s on culturally competent practices. There is an absence of research on the experiences of Japanese Americans who stutter within the communication sciences and disorders field. In the current, exploratory study, Japanese and Japanese Americans who stutter and Japanese speech-language pathologists participated in semi-structured interview that gathered perspectives of Japanese American who stutter and the cultural and clinical expertise of Japanese speech language pathologists. Qualitative analysis revealed six potential themes: communication challenges, stuttering in the context of Japanese communication, reluctance to seek support, acceptance in people who stutter, understanding of stuttering, and cultural change in Japan. The results indicate that there are unique challenges that Japanese Americans who stutter face, and there is a large cultural influence on the concept of disability among Japanese Americans in general. The overarching goal of this study was to inform and to encourage future research within the intersecting areas of Japanese culture, American culture, communication disorders, and stuttering.
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