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People have found stuttering confusing for centuries and, like so many mysteries, have tried to explain it with folklore. For instance, some cultures used to believe that a child stuttered because his mother saw a snake during pregnancy, or because a toddler ate a grasshopper. We now know that stuttering is mostly physiological in origin, may be genetic, and often includes environmental and emotional components. However, myths about stuttering persist today. Here are just a few of them:
- People stutter because they are nervous. Because fluent speakers occasionally stutter when they’re nervous or under stress, some folks assume that people who stutter do so for the same reason. While people who stutter may be nervous because they stutter, nervousness is not the cause.
- People who stutter are shy and self-conscious. Children and adults who stutter often are hesitant to speak up but are not otherwise shy by nature. Once they come to terms with stuttering, people who stutter can be assertive and outspoken. Many have succeeded in leadership positions.
- Stuttering is a mental disorder. Emotional factors often accompany stuttering but it’s not primarily a psychological condition. Stuttering treatment often includes counseling to help people who stutter deal with attitudes and fears that may be the result of stuttering.
- People who stutter are less intelligent or capable. People who stutter are disproving this every day. The stuttering community has its share of scientists, writers and college professors. People who stutter have achieved success in every profession imaginable.
- Stuttering is caused by emotional trauma. A traumatic episode may trigger stuttering in a child who already is predisposed to it, but usually that’s not the root cause.
- Stuttering is caused by bad parenting. When a child stutters, it’s not the parents’ fault. Stress between parent and child can exacerbate stuttering but is not the cause.
- Stuttering is just a habit that people can break if they want to. If lack of willpower were the problem the NSA would not exist. People who are overcoming the effects of stuttering are among the hardest-working and highly motivated people you will ever meet.
- Children who stutter are imitating a stuttering parent or relative. Stuttering is not contagious. Since stuttering often runs in families, however, children who have a parent or close relative who stutters may be at risk for stuttering themselves.
- Forcing a left-handed child to become right-handed causes stuttering. This was widely believed early in the 20th century but has been disproven in most studies since 1940. However, the stress that resulted when a child was forced to switch hands may have exacerbated stuttering.
- Identifying or labeling a child as a stutterer results in chronic stuttering. This was the premise of a famous study in 1939. The study was discredited decades ago but this outdated theory still crops up occasionally.
These are just a few of the common myths out there. Instead, let's make sure that we have the Facts About Stuttering!
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