The Stuttering Foundation of America shares these facts:
- More than 3 million Americans stutter.
- Stuttering affects four times as many males as females.
- "Stammering" and "disfluent speech" are other names for stuttering.
- People who stutter are as intelligent as non-stutterers.
- There are no clear-cut answers to the causes of stuttering, but much has been learned about factors that contribute to its development (as a result, tremendous progress has been made in the prevention of stuttering in young children).
- People who stutter are self-conscious about their disorder and often let the disability determine the vocation they choose.
- There are no miracle cures for stuttering, and therapy is not an overnight process.
- About 25 percent of all children go through a stage of development during which they stutter. Approximately 4 percent may stutter for six months or more.
- Stuttering becomes an increasingly formidable problem in the teen years as dating and social interaction begins.
- A qualified clinician can help children, teen-agers, young adults and older adults make significant progress toward fluency.