About Stuttering
Stuttering is Like an Iceberg...
It is hiding a range of social difficulties, unseen from the surface, which result in:
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Fear of communicating with other people
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Fear of speaking in public
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Shame
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Social anxiety
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Social isolation
Stuttering is a Fluency Disorder
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Fluency disorders are expressive speech disorders, which affect the flow, rhythm, and speed of speech.
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They include two main disorders:
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Stuttering - interrupted or blocked speech
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Cluttering - speaking fast, merging or cutting words
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The causes of stuttering are mostly a mystery
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There is no cure for stuttering
Living with Stuttering
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12% of the population suffers from some speech disorder
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1% of adult population and 5-10% of children stutter
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A stutter may be triggered by events like talking on the phone
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Stuttering impacts daily activities, as many stutterers experience it as a failure
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They struggle not to stutter, therefore stutter even more
Speech Therapy Today
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Stuttering is one of the hardest disorders to treat
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Therapy is usually done in a clinic, by certified speech language pathologists (SLPs)
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There are two main approaches:
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Stuttering modification - making the stutter softer and less stressing
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Fluency shaping - eliminating stutter as much as possible, using speech-control techniques
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