What Do You Know About Stuttering?
What do writer Lewis Carroll, former basketball star Bill Walton, and King George VI have in common? They were all stutterers at some point in their lives. Take this quiz to see how much you know about stuttering.
1. At least 3 million Americans stutter.
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Stuttering, also known as stammering, is a communication disorder.
2. Stuttering affects 2 to 3 times as many people assigned male at birth as it does people assigned female at birth.
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Experts don't know why this is so.
3. Despite decades of research, there are no clear-cut answers about what causes stuttering.
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But much has been learned about the factors that contribute to the development of stuttering. Genetics plays a part, because stuttering tends to run in families. Young children who are pushed to speak and speak quickly also can develop a stutter. Parents can take several steps to help a stutterer. The main step is to slow down when speaking. Another way to help is to not bombard your child with questions. If you ask, "What did you do at Johnnie's house?" that forces the child to come up with an answer quickly. If you say, "You look like you had a good time at Johnnie's house," you give the child time to think, without pressure, and come up with an answer. Reading to your child can also help. And you don't have to read something complex for it to work. Simple nursery rhymes teach language by making it fun.
4. People who stutter are self-conscious about their stuttering. They often let the disability determine their career choice.
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People who stutter often pick careers such as journalism or accounting that don't require a lot of talking. But what really helps someone who stutters is therapy and practice.
5. You won't find any quick miracle cures for stuttering.
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There is no magic pill that will make stuttering go away in a day. But a speech-language pathologist who specializes in stuttering can help. The amount of therapy and the length of time needed to accomplish certain goals may vary with each person.
6. A quarter of all children go through a stage of speech development with severe enough problems to concern their parents.
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Many children occasionally repeat syllables or words once or twice, li-li-like this. These speech differences are called dysfluencies. They may also include hesitancies and using fillers such as "uh," "er," and "um." Experts say that these dysfluencies occur most often between ages 18 months and 5 years. They also tend to come and go. Just remember that these are often signs that a child is using language in new ways. Experts are working to find the gene or genes responsible for stuttering. Once that's done, a child who stutters may be able to have a simple blood test to see if they carry the marker for stuttering. If so, that child could then go into therapy right away. A child without the marker would outgrow their speech problem over time without therapy.
7. Stuttering becomes more of a problem as a child becomes a teen.
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Teens are starting to date and interact socially. Problems with stuttering can make this time hard for them.
8. Famous people who stutter have included Winston Churchill, Marilyn Monroe, Mel Tillis, Carly Simon, James Earl Jones, and John Updike.
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All of these people and many others went on to lead successful lives.
9. If you want to find therapy for your child with a stuttering problem, it's best to look for a speech-language pathologist who specializes in stuttering.
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One way to find such a professional is to visit the Stuttering Foundation website at
www.stutteringhelp.org. Or you may contact a nearby university or hospital clinic for a referral. You should look for a speech-language pathologist who has a Certificate of Clinical Competence from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.
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