About the Author: My name is Bwalya Jacob Kangwa from Zambia and I’m a member of the Stammering Association of Zambia. I am a vibrant, young man who is eager to give hope and encouragement to anyone who may feel hopeless and discouraged because of the challenges that come with stuttering. As a person with stuttering, I understand the challenges that people facing this speech impediment go through. My aim is making people with stuttering feel comfortable about themselves and help them realize other skills and talents that they possess therefore enabling them to look at life in a positive perspective. I hold a Bachelor of Science in Banking and Finance, which I acquired from the Copperbelt University. I am currently working for an insurance company. I am a member of the Stuttering Association of Zambia, I wish to contribute to the vision of the association. As an association, we are working hard to conduct sensitization about the subject and create an environment where a person with stutter feels free to speak without the fear of being labelled as less intelligent and abnormal.

Communication is such a basic need for every human being. According to a study conducted by Matthias Mehl, an average person roughly says 16,000 words per day(Mehl et al, 2007). This just shows how important communication is.

Speaking is a very important and common form of communicating. It is this form of communicating that a stammering person has difficulties with. Let us be honest and realistic about it, not being able to speak effectively has the potential to negatively affect a person’s career, social life and confidence. 

I feel like people, especially those not affected, trivialize the problem. Stammering can lead to lack of self-confidence and it can cause anxiety disorder and this can have intense psychological effects on a person so much that they start feeling less of a human or inadequate. About 60% of those who seek treatment for stuttering warrant a diagnosis of social anxiety disorder (Blumgart et al., 2010; Iverach, O’Brian, et al., 2009; Menzies et al., 2008; Stein et al., 1996).

I believe parents should intervene as early as they notice that their child has the problem. They should take it very seriously and come up with possible measures necessary to help the child develop self- confidence and manage the problem. 

I have watched individuals who have claimed to have been cured from the problem. I am not disputing that it could be true. I do not have any basis to debunk their claim. However, whether you believe it can be cured or not, there is a need to properly manage the problem. A failure to control stammering will, most likely, affect the quality of your life.

There is a community advocating for acceptance. Of course, acceptance is important, for no one deliberately chooses to develop stammering. However, as much as acceptance is important, doing something about the issue is needed. Acceptance does not mean you fold your arms and stammer uncontrollably to an extent that you fail to communicate clearly.

I realized that stammering made me fail to communicate clearly on many occasions. Consequently, I became poor at verbal communication. I started working on developing effective ways of communicating clearly the moment I realized that I was becoming poor at communication. I have just come to realise how significant being an effective speaker is, whether you stammer or not.

My shade of stuttering is that, If there is something you can do to reduce, overcome or manage your stammering, please go for it. I believe it is worth it. If you feel having Speech Therapy will help then go for it. I am managing the problem properly so that I have become better at how I communicate.

Citations:

Blumgart, E., Tran, Y., & Craig, A. (2010). Social anxiety disorder in adults who stutter. Depression and Anxiety, 27(7), 687–692. https://doi.org/10.1002/da.20657

Iverach, L., O’Brian, S., Jones, M., Block, S., Lincoln, M., Harrison, E., Hewat, S., Menzies, R. G., Packman, A., & Onslow, M. (2009). Prevalence of anxiety disorders among adults seeking speech therapy for stuttering. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 23(7), 928–934. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.janxdis.2009.06.003

Mehl, M. R., Vazire, S., Ramírez-Esparza, N., Slatcher, R. B., & Pennebaker, J. W. (2007). Are women really more talkative than men? Science, 317(5834), 82. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1139940 

Menzies, R. G., O’Brian, S., Onslow, M., Packman, A., St Clare, T., & Block, S. (2008). An experimental clinical trial of a cognitive-behavior therapy package for chronic stuttering. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 51(6), 1451–1464. https://doi.org/10.1044/1092-4388(2008/07-0070)

Stein, M. B., Baird, A., & Walker, J. R. (1996). Social phobia in adults with stuttering. American Journal of Psychiatry, 153(2), 278–280. https://doi.org/10.1176/ajp.153.2.278