International Stuttering Awareness Day is observed on October 22 every year. Stuttering or stammering is a speech disorder in which the flow of speech is interrupted by involuntary repetition of words, prolongation of sounds or syllables and involuntary pauses between sentences. The impact pf stuttering or stammering has on a person can be severe. It can affect a person’s confidence to speak in front of a vast group or an audience. Stuttering can cause serious anxiety issues and high allostatic stress load in a person. In most cases, stuttering becomes a target of bullying and this only triggers the chronic nervousness. International Stuttering Awareness Day 2018: Boys Stammer More Than Girls, and Other Shocking Facts About Stuttering.

Stammering, also known as childhood-onset fluency disorder, often leads a person to repeat a single thing over and over. This can happen because of a lot of things. Not many people know how this happens or why this happens. Stuttering is a normal thing for a child to do when they’re starting to speak. When a child begins to talk and learn a new language, they often stutter as they struggle to process the new words. Over time, as the kid grows up, they grow out of it. International Stammering Awareness Day 2018: Theme, Background, the Significance of the Day Dedicated to the Speech Disorder.

What Are the Causes of Stuttering?

  • Genetics and family history of stuttering

  • Family dynamics

  • Neurophysiology

  • Development during childhood

  • Traumatic experiences

  • Brain disorders

  • Stroke

  • Traumatic brain injury

The speech disorder is more common than we realise. According to the National Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), about 5-10 percent of children stutter at some point in their lives. It is most common in kids between two-six years old. About 25 percent of children continue to stutter to their adulthood. Men are more likely to stutter than females. International Stuttering Awareness Day is essential yet overlooked. A lot of people, especially kids and teens, are bullied because of stammering and some awareness of this can really help.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 22, 2019 07:45 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).