International Stuttering Awareness Day 2022

The International Stuttering Awareness Day is celebrated globally on October 22 every year. It is also known as international stammering awareness day, and it was first observed in the UK and Ireland in 1998. This day focuses on raising awareness of stuttering in society, uniting efforts to educate the public, and expressing sympathy for those who stutter and still feel alone and isolated.

The purpose of international stuttering awareness day is:

• Enhance the opportunities and self-esteem of those who stutter to achieve their goals.
• Change people's attitudes and eliminate social discrimination against stuttering individual.
• Create a social network and allow people to share ideas, and improve relationships between researchers, stutterers, clinicians, and parents of stuttering kids.

Please keep reading to learn more about stuttering, its types, risk factors, symptoms, and treatment. 

What Is Stuttering?

Stuttering is a neurological speech disorder that can be inherited or acquired by brain trauma. It is characterized by halting speech production, repeated words, sounds, or syllables, and a variable speech rate. This disorder is sometimes referred to as diffluent speech or stammering. It is very prevalent in young children.

Types Of Stuttering

• Developmental: This type is more common in children under five, particularly males, and occurs as they develop their speech and language abilities. It generally resolves without treatment.
• Neurogenic: This type is brought on by abnormal signals between the brain and the muscles or nerves.
• Psychogenic: This type develops in the brain region that controls reasoning and thinking.

Risk Factors Of Stuttering

Some factors that increase the risk of stuttering include:

• Gender: Males are at a higher risk of getting stuttering than females.
• Delayed childhood development: Children with developmental delays or other speech problems may be more likely to get stutter.
• Stress: Stress in the family, high parental expectations, or other types of pressure can worsen stuttering.
• Family history: If any of your relatives or family members have Stuttered, it raises your risk of acquiring this disorder.

Look Out For The Following Symptoms Of Stuttering:

• Frustration while trying to communicate
• Repeating phrases or words
• Refusing to speak
• Hesitation or pausing before starting to speak
• Interjections of extra sounds, such as "uh" or "um."
• Voice with tension
• Rearranging the words in a sentence
• Making long sounds with words
• Physical changes like facial tics, lip tremors, excessive eye blinking, and tension in the face and upper body

Treatment For Stuttering

Different treatment approaches may not eliminate all stuttering, but they can develop effective communication and improve speech fluency. The various treatment therapies include:

• Speech therapy can help you to slow down your speech and learn to notice when you stutter. When you start speech therapy, you can speak extremely slowly and deliberately but, eventually, work up to a more natural speech pattern.
• Some electronic devices are available to improve fluency. Delayed auditory feedback requires you to slow your speech, or the speech will sound distorted through the machine. Consult your speech-language therapist to get advice on selecting a device. 
• Cognitive behavioral therapy is a kind of psychotherapy that can help you learn to identify and change ways of thoughts that might make your stuttering worse. Additionally, it can assist you in overcoming tension, worry, or low self-esteem issues.
• Parent-child interaction is a key component of assisting a child cope with stuttering. Pay attention to the speech-language pathologist's advice to choose the best course of action for your child.  

Awareness Without Action Is Worthless

This world stuttering day, raise awareness about stuttering, its types, risk factors, symptoms, and treatment with your friends and family. Spread awareness about various management methods among people to help improve their stuttering condition and overall quality of life.