Dear Editor,
Those of us who do not stutter may think that stuttering is not a big deal. Yet, for those who stutter, it is a huge deal. Young children get teased for their speech. School-age children may not participate in classroom activities. Employers may choose not to hire someone who stutters.
The British Stammering Association defines stammering, otherwise known as stuttering, as a neurological condition that makes it physically hard to speak. Someone who stammers may repeat sounds or syllables, make sounds longer, get stuck on certain words or have words that don’t come out at all, despite knowing what they want to say. More than 70 million people around the world stutter. This means that while talking, they repeat syllables, sounds or words. People who stutter also prolong sounds or experience unwanted interruptions in their speech. They know what they want to say, but are unable to produce a normal flow of speech. This disorder usually affects children between the ages of 2 and 6. This is when they are producing their language skills. International Stuttering Awareness Day is observed annually on October 22. The day was established in 1998 to educate the public, break down social stigma, and support the estimated 1% of the world’s population who stutter. The day is also observed to correct false beliefs that stuttering is caused by nervousness, shyness, bad parenting, or a lack of intelligence. Instead, science recognizes it as a complex neurological and genetic condition affecting speech fluency. Additionally, the day serves to highlight the urgency to eliminate social stigma, harassment, and barriers in schools, workplaces, and daily public life as well as it connects people who stutter, clinicians, and parents with speech-language therapy, psychological support, and community networks.
This year’s theme is Shades of Stuttering -What’s Yours? Stuttering does not look or sound the same for everyone. The theme breaks down into a few core meanings: Visual and Auditory Differences: Stuttering looks and sounds completely different from person to person. One person might experience brief repetitions, while another might experience long physical blocks.
Overt vs. Covert Stuttering: It recognizes the different “shades” of how people navigate their speech. Some people stutter openly (overt), while others pass as fluent by constantly switching words or avoiding speaking situations to hide their stutter (covert).
Diverse Perspectives on Success: “What’s yours?” invites people who stutter to define their own relationship with their speech. For some, success means working on speech fluency techniques; for others, it means radical self-acceptance and stuttering proudly. Ultimately, the theme encourages the global community to look beyond stereotypes and listen to the diverse, individual stories of the people behind the speech.
Speech Fluency Disorder.
Stuttering is a speech condition that disrupts the normal flow of speech. Fluency means having an easy and smooth flow and rhythm when speaking. With stuttering, the interruptions in flow happen often and cause problems for the speaker. Unlike many other physical, developmental, or neurodivergent conditions that have achieved significant gains in societal acceptance, legal accommodation, and positive media representation, stuttering has lagged behind in public and cultural progress. Stuttering has been documented as far back as 4th-century BC Greece. Stuttering can affect people of all ages but begins most frequently in young children between the ages of 2 and 6, as they are developing their language skills. Approximately 5 to 10 percent of all children stutter for some period, lasting from a few weeks to several years. Boys are two to three times more likely than girls to stutter, and this difference increases for older children; older boys are three to four times more likely than older girls to stutter. Most children, however, outgrow stuttering. It is suggested that you seek professional help if stuttering lasts more than six months, happens along with other speech or language problems, includes muscle tightening or physical struggling when trying to speak, or begins as an adult. On this important day for the stuttering community, let us give people the space to speak, resist the urge to jump in and finish their sentences, and always value the message over the speed of delivery.
In the words of Joe Biden, You know, stuttering, when you think about it, is the only handicap that people still laugh about. That still humiliates people about.”
Wayne Campbell is an educator and social commentator with an interest in development policies as they affect culture and or gender issues.
Yours truly,
Wayne Campbell
waykam@yahoo.com
@WayneCamo
