Strange Facts about Stuttering
Statistics
1% of the adult population stutters. Men account for 80% of all adult
stutterers.
Closet stutterers
Stutterers often resort to word replacement in order to avoid stuttering.
When a stutterer feels he will stutter on a particular word, he often tries
to find an alternative word with a similar meaning. Some stutterers are so
successful in using this technique that no one, not even their spouse, knows
that they are stutterers. Stutterers who successfully manage to hide their
stuttering by using word replacements are called 'closet stutterers'.
Although they don't actually stutter, these 'closet stutterers' nevertheless
suffer greatly from their speech disorder. Scanning ahead for feared words
is stressful and the replacement word is usually not as adequate of a choice
as the stutterer originally intended. Closet stutterers often order a
pizza when they want to eat a burger or compromise their opinions.
Reaction to stress
We all react to stress in different ways but nearly all stutterers have
one thing in common when it comes to reacting to stress: they tighten the
muscles of their vocal cords. This explains why stuttering becomes worse
when a stutterer is under pressure.
Changing name
Stutterers often have extreme difficulties saying their own names. This
is extremely embarrassing and some stutterers have even resorted to having
their names changed to a name they can easily say. Once the name has been
legally changed, the stutterer often finds out that he/she can now say the
old name with ease but severely blocks on the new name.
Singing, speaking in unison, whispering...
Stutterers usually don't stutter when they sing, speak in unison,
whisper, talk to a pet or speak to a small child. |