International Stuttering Awareness Day (ISAD) or International Stammering Awareness Day is celebrated on October 22. The day creates awareness about the speech disorder known as stuttering or stammering. Stuttering refers to disruptions in the fluency of speech. Its symptoms include involuntary repetition of words and temporary inability or difficulty to utter sounds or words, among others.
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International Stuttering Awareness Day 2022: Theme
The theme for 2022’s International Stuttering Awareness Day is “Being seen, being heard: Representation and normalisation of stuttering in the mainstream,”. The theme highlights the fact that stuttering is something that affects many in society and is nothing abnormal.
International Stuttering Awareness Day 2022: Significance
The day is celebrated to make people understand that stuttering is a disorder that should not discriminate stutterers from others and make fun of their condition. The day promotes self-esteem of people who stutter so that they be motivated to pursue their goals and aspirations.
More than 70 million people around the world stutter and it usually affects children between the ages of 2 and 6. Despite knowing what they want to speak, they are unable to speak normally.
International Stuttering Awareness Day: History
More than seven crore people across the world are affected by stuttering. The International Stuttering Association (ISA) decided to highlight the issue through an International Stuttering Awareness Day. In 1995, during a conference held at Linköping, Sweden, the ISA formulated a wish list which advocated the need for an International Stuttering Awareness Day.
Then, in 1997, at the International Fluency Association (IFA) conference, Michael Sugarman, the co-founder of the National Stuttering project, raised the call for an international day for stuttering awareness. Sugarman’s wish was granted in 1998 when the European League of Stuttering Associations, International Fluency Association and ISA declared October 22 as Stuttering Awareness Day.