The speech impediment stuttering has often been in the news during the last decade and this has helped the general public to become much more aware of the problem and has given them a much better understanding of it. In this article I will review some of the facts about stuttering including information about the types of treatment that are currently available.
So how many people do have a stutter? This is a question that I am often asked and it is believed that around one percent of the population have this type of speech impediment. That may not sound like a lot but when you think about it a bit deeper it means that in a school which has five hundred people there will be five students who have a stutter.
A second fact and one that is now fairly well known is that between sixty and seventy percent of the people who have a stutter are male. This could well be because men/boys do not generally like talking about their problems or weaknesses.
So what are the available treatments for stuttering? Well again this is another question that I am asked on a very regularly basis and below in order of success, the most beneficial treatments being at the top; are some of the most popular stuttering treatments:
1. A one-to-one specialised stuttering therapy course
2. A self-help stuttering therapy DVD
3. A self-help stuttering therapy audio-book
4. A self-help stuttering therapy e-book
5. Speech and language therapy
Famous people such as the singer Gareth Gates and the politician Joe Biden have helped raise the profile of stuttering over the last few years and I hope that people will now be more caring when talking to people who have this form of speech impediment.