Truth or Myth: Stuttering Edition

Stuttering can begin gradually and develop over time, or it can appear suddenly.

Forcing a left-handed child to become right-handed causes stuttering.

Stuttering is just a habit that people can break if they want to.

Identifying or labeling a child as a stutterer results in chronic stuttering.

When people stutter, they feel like they have lost control of their speech mechanism.

People who stutter can overcome the burden of stuttering and live full lives regardless of whether or how much they stutter.

Stuttering is a genetically influenced condition: most of the time, if there is one person in a family who stutters, there will be another person in the family who also stutters.

Stuttering is caused by bad parenting.

Stuttering is more common among males than females.

People who stutter are shy and self-conscious.

Stuttering is caused by being nervous.

Stuttering is caused by emotional trauma.

People who stutter often try to avoid stuttering, perhaps by trying to speak quickly, by forcing through moments of stuttering, or by not speaking at all when they fear that they might stutter.

Overall, about 1% of the world’s population stutters,

Children who stutter are imitating a stuttering parent or relative.

Stuttering is associated with differences in the brain; it is not just a behavior that children learn or pick up from listening to other people who stutter.

People who stutter are less intelligent or capable.

Stuttering is a psychological disorder.

Stuttering varies across situations: sometimes people stutter a lot, and sometimes they stutter a little.

Stuttering varies significantly over time: Sometimes, people will have periods in which the stuttering appears to go away, only to have it return.

Stuttering usually begins in childhood, between the ages of 2 and 5 years.