International Stuttering Awareness Day 2022: Significance, impact and cure

International Stuttering Awareness Day is observed annually on October 22. Stuttering is a communication disorder in which repetitions or abnormal stoppages of sounds and syllables break the flow of speech. Stuttering is a neurological and genetic speech disorder or through some trauma that affects the brain. The day was established in 1998 to bring the attention to the millions of people around the world living with this specific communication disorder.

Primary causes of stuttering include genetics, child development, neurophysiology, and family dynamics. Many people think that emotional trauma or psychological problems causes stuttering. There is no evidence to support this idea.

Stuttering comes in many other forms, including elongation of a vowel or syllable. Some days a person might only stutter a few times while others the stutter may affect most of their interactions.

Impact:

Stuttering or stammering impacts one's ability to communicate effectively which can lead to social anxiety and low self-esteem.

Cure:

There is no real cure for stuttering, but there are speech therapy classes to manage the disorder. Children will sometimes lose their stutter as they go through puberty or enter adulthood. Stutterers generally suffer bullying in childhood and ostracism in adults.

Another common approach is cognitive behavioral therapy which can be helpful if one tend to get anxious about speaking, or if have negative thoughts about their stammering.

Some people find that medication can help reduce their stammering. There are a few different types of medication that can be used, but they don’t work for everyone.

Significance of this day:

The day is celebrated to make people understand that stuttering is a disorder that should not discriminate stutterers from others and make fun of their condition. The day promotes self-esteem of people who stutter so that they be motivated to pursue their goals and aspirations.

More than 70 million people around the world stutter and it usually affects children between the ages of 2 and 6. Despite knowing what they want to speak, they are unable to speak normally.