The International Stuttering Awareness Day is marked annually on 22 October to create awareness about stuttering, which affects more than 70 million people, or one percent of the population, globally. The aim of the day is to create more knowledge about the condition and reduce the stigma associated with it.

Stuttering is a communication disorder that involves “disfluencies”, or disruptions in a person’s speech. This International Stuttering Awareness Day, here are some facts about the condition:

• Stuttering can begin either individually, or develop over a long period of time, although in many cases it begins between the ages of two and five years.
• According to estimate, about five percent of children experience a period where they stutter while speaking. About 80 percent of children who begin to stutter in early childhood, grow out of the condition.