New Delhi . Roman Emperor Claudius, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, Hollywood icon Marilyn Monroe and James Earl Jones (whose voice the world recognizes as the voice of Darth Vader) have something in commonthey all stuttered. But he never let his weakness overpower him and overcame it beautifully. This is what International Stuttering Awareness Day tells. It is celebrated every year on 22 October.
Stuttering is a problem that prevents you from speaking in any public forum. A person who stutters is not confident and spends many years trying to control it. These were the reasons why it started being celebrated to spread awareness. After all, when, how and why was the need to celebrate it felt?
International Stuttering Awareness Day was first observed in 1998. Actually people used to make fun of people suffering from stuttering problem. So some organizations considered it a serious issue and decided to raise it at the international level. It started as a campaign jointly organized by the International Stuttering Association, the International Fluency Association and the European League of Stuttering Associations.
Well, stuttering has been a topic of interest for millennia. The ancient Greek statesman and Demosthenes are also said to stutter. Demosthenes, who lived in the fourth century BC, could not speak without stammering and was often ridiculed by his peers. Due to which he was determined to bring his situation under control.
Especially because he was a highly intelligent man who had much to say about the political situation in Athens. One of the strategies he adopted was to practice speaking with a pebble in his mouth so loudly that his voice could be heard even above the waves. After a lot of hard work, he also succeeded.
In ancient and medieval times, herbal remedies were often recommended for stuttering. Like drinking water from a snail's shell, and the most superstitious people believed that this condition was caused by tickling an infant too much or letting him look at himself in the mirror.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, a number of dangerous surgeries were performed to correct the speech of a stammerer, ranging from making small incisions on the tongue or lips to removing the tonsils, but none were particularly successful. Happened.
So what measures are taken these days? Nowadays, several types of fluency shaping therapy are offered that help a person who stutters have more control over their lips, jaw, and tongue. Significant improvement in speech is also seen by reducing the stress and anxiety levels of the person who stammers.
But the best way which experts believe is that if the stuttering person's 'own' i.e. family and close friends trust him, then he can get rid of hesitation to a great extent.
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Image Credit: Khaskhabar.