11 Facts About Stuttering

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1. Stuttering (aka stammering) is a speech disorder that causes the flow of speech to be broken up.^[U.S. National Library of Medicine - PubMed Health. "Stuttering." Children and stuttering; Speech disfluency; Stammering. 2012, reviewed May 14, 2014 (accessed Nov 12, 2014).]
2. About 5% of children (1 in 20) ages 2 to 5 will develop some stuttering during their childhood. It may last for several weeks to several years.^[U.S. National Library of Medicine - PubMed Health. "Stuttering." Children and stuttering; Speech disfluency; Stammering. 2012, reviewed May 14, 2014 (accessed Nov 12, 2014).]
3. While some will recover by age 7 or 8, 1 out of every 100 children will be left with long-term stuttering.^[The Stuttering Foundation and Frank Wolf. "Stuttering Gets Congress' Attention." Summer 2014 Newsletter. http://www.stutteringhelp.org/content/stuttering-gets-congress%E2%80%99-attention (accessed Nov 12, 2014).]
4. Stuttering is more common in boys than girls. It also tends to persist into adulthood more often in boys than in girls.^[U.S. National Library of Medicine - PubMed Health. "Stuttering." Children and stuttering; Speech disfluency; Stammering. 2012, reviewed May 14, 2014 (accessed Nov 12, 2014).]
5. More than 70 million people worldwide are stutterers -- that's one in every 100. In the US, more than 3 million people stutter.^[The Stuttering Foundation and Frank Wolf. "Stuttering Gets Congress' Attention." Summer 2014 Newsletter. http://www.stutteringhelp.org/content/stuttering-gets-congress%E2%80%99-attention (accessed Nov 12, 2014).]
6. Stuttering is a biological and neurological condition that is caused by one or more of four possible triggers, the first being genetics. Stuttering tends to run in families, and genes that cause stuttering have been identified.^[U.S. National Library of Medicine - PubMed Health. "Stuttering." Children and stuttering; Speech disfluency; Stammering. 2012, reviewed May 14, 2014 (accessed Nov 12, 2014).]
7. Child development is another possible cause, as children with other speech/language problems or developmental delays are more likely to stutter.^[The Stuttering Foundation and Frank Wolf. "Stuttering Gets Congress' Attention." Summer 2014 Newsletter. http://www.stutteringhelp.org/content/stuttering-gets-congress%E2%80%99-attention (accessed Nov 12, 2014).]
8. Neurophysiology may also be a trigger for stuttering, with ongoing research showing that people who stutter seem to process speech and language differently than those who don’t. Strokes and traumatic brain injuries can also contribute to stuttering.^[The Stuttering Foundation and Frank Wolf. "Stuttering Gets Congress' Attention." Summer 2014 Newsletter. http://www.stutteringhelp.org/content/stuttering-gets-congress%E2%80%99-attention (accessed Nov 12, 2014).]
9. Family dynamics may cause stuttering too, with high expectations, fast-paced lifestyles, and emotional trauma having an impact.^[The Stuttering Foundation and Frank Wolf. "Stuttering Gets Congress' Attention." Summer 2014 Newsletter. http://www.stutteringhelp.org/content/stuttering-gets-congress%E2%80%99-attention (accessed Nov 12, 2014).]
10. Many famous actors, athletes, and musicians have dealt with stuttering. Marilyn Monroe, James Earl Jones, Emily Blunt, B.B. King, and Shaquille O’Neal are a few.^[The Stuttering Foundation. "Famous People Who Stutter." http://www.stutteringhelp.org/famous-people-who-stutter. 2014 (accessed Nov 12, 2014).]
11. A variety of apps for smartphones and tablets have been designed to help with stuttering such as Balbus Speech, Fluently, Smarty Ears, and The Stammurai (created by other teens who stutter!).^[The Stuttering Foundation. "Apps & Software to help Stuttering." http://oldsite.stutteringhelp.org/Default.aspx?tabid=940. 2012 (accessed Nov 12, 2014).]