By Ryan Clark
CHS Communications Director

International Stuttering Awareness Day is Sunday, Oct. 22, and it is ‘vital’ to understanding those who struggle with speech disorders, a College of Health Sciences professor says.

Richard D. Andreatta, PhD, ASHA Fellow, is a professor in the Department of Communication Sciences & Disorders (CSD) and in the Rehabilitation and Health Sciences Doctoral Program (RHB-DP). In 2019, he was elected as a Fellow of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA).

“International Stuttering Awareness Day is vital, for it not only illuminates the struggles and discrimination faced by those who stutter, but also celebrates their resiliency and perseverance,” he said. “ISAD is an opportunity to celebrate the idea that every voice, no matter its cadence, is heard and valued.”

Oct. 22 was designated International Stuttering Awareness Day (ISAD) in 1998, and it is intended to raise public awareness of stuttering, which affects 1 percent of the world’s population.

The day is a special worldwide commitment to:

• educate people about this complex disorder
• work toward the prevention of stuttering in children
• let people know that help is available
• promote research to find the causes of stuttering

Facts from the National Stuttering Association:

• While the precise causes of stuttering are unknown, most researchers now consider it to be a neurological condition that interferes with the production of speech.
• Stuttering varies widely among individuals, and can vary in the same individual from day to day, and depending on the speaking situation.
• There is no reliable cure that works consistently, over time, for all people who stutter.
• People who stutter have achieved success in every profession imaginable, as well as all areas of personal achievement.