From Ken, the clumsy animal lover, in A fish called Wanda to Porky Pig’s instantly recognizable stutter – when stuttering characters appear in mainstream media, it’s usually like the end of a joke. The condition, which has its origins in genetics, is often used for laughs, and it is common to see fictional stutterers causing confusion or chaos.

Of course, real stutterers are very different from their imagined counterparts. The list of famous stutterers includes many influential speakers and leaders, including Prime Minister Winston Churchill and President Joe Biden, as well as artists known for the uniqueness and power of their voices, such as the late actor James Earl Jones and the singer Ed Sheeran.

And yet, for a multitude of reasons that go beyond unflattering media portrayals, stuttering is a condition that remains stigmatized. It’s all too common for adults to treat children who stutter as if they’re less capable than their peers, telling them to “slow down” when they’re having difficulty, or talking over them or completing their sentences, study finds . Research Review 2022 by Emma Thome of the University of Georgia. Even well-meaning teachers sometimes buy into myths and misconceptions surrounding stuttering, Thome writes, and may exclude stutterers from presentations and performances, thinking they are doing them a favor.

While research into the precise causes of stuttering is ongoing, Thome’s report notes that it, like other language-related conditions, appears to arise from differences in brain processing, leading in this case to a “disruption of the flow of speech. It also appears to have a genetic component; about 30 to 60 percent of people who stutter have a close family member who also stutters, a 2016 study Remarks.

There are some forms of stuttering, Thome writes, including repetitions of partial or whole words (“My name is JJ-Joey”), prolongations of sounds (“What did you get?”). Mom for his birthday? “), and inaudible blockages in the voice (“What time does hockey practice start?”). Some students may also be “covert” stutterers, masking their condition by intentionally appearing to pause and think when they anticipate they might stutter, using filler words like “um”, avoiding certain words altogether because ‘They are too difficult to pronounce, or play. with their glasses or scratching their heads to distract listeners with a pause in their language.

“Between five and 11 percent of preschoolers will begin to stutter,” Thome writes, but many of these cases resolve naturally, leaving the overall incidence of persistent stuttering at about 1 percent among older students and adults; it’s about four times more common in men. Contrary to myth, stuttering is not caused by shyness or anxiety. On the contrary, children who stutter may feel more shy because of their condition, Thome says. And above all, research suggests that stuttering is not linked to lower intelligence.

Some teachers may feel like they can help their students lose their stuttering, but there is no known cure for the condition, Thome reports. Children usually begin stuttering between the ages of two and five, but many lose their stuttering naturally if they have not stuttered for more than 15 months, a 1998 study find.

As a result, the students most teachers encounter “are likely beyond the natural recovery window,” Thome writes. So, rather than trying to “fix” a student’s stuttering, special education and general education teachers should focus on solutions that “promote acceptance and openness toward stuttering.” , increase self-confidence and manage the negative effects of stuttering,” says Thome.

In the classroom, teachers may face a dilemma: should they treat students who stutter the same as their peers, or recognize their unique needs and adjust their expectations accordingly? The goal is to find the right balance between the two, says Sheila Cina, a speech pathologist based in Minneapolis. Relying on a set of targeted, compassionate, and evidence-based strategies can make a classroom more welcoming to students who stutter, allowing them to learn more effectively.

Teach the class about stuttering: To create a classroom culture of respect and understanding about stuttering, teachers can share facts about stuttering so that students learn to view it as a difference and not a deficiency, Thome’s report says. Sharing informational videos in class can be helpful, Cina says; she recommends the series of studies recently published by the Blank Center for Stuttering Education and Research. short and animated videos told from the point of view of a stuttering student.

Evaluate student preferences: “When in doubt, default to treating (students who stutter) like anyone else,” Cina says. “That’s what most kids want, and it’s usually the best environment a child can live in.” Don’t avoid calling on students who stutter in class or exempting them from presentations; you may think you’re sympathizing with their condition, but it tends to have the opposite effect, Cina suggests.

That said, it is appropriate – and necessary – to provide certain accommodations for students who stutter. To determine what accommodations to make, experts generally agree: consult students (and their families) directly. “Before giving the child a challenging activity, such as taking a role in a play or presentation, solicit feedback from the student and their parents,” Tim Mackesey, an Atlanta-based speech-language pathologist, tells Edutopia . Some students might be excited about taking on a bigger role, and others might not.

Mackesey has found it helpful to ask students to rate their comfort with a particular activity on a scale of one to 10. At the same time, Thome recommends assessing students’ needs and preferences through a brief survey at the beginning of the course. year and “provide opportunities for students to update this information throughout the school year.

Collaborate with speech therapists: In addition to consulting with students and parents, Thome’s report recommends collaborating with students’ speech-language pathologists.

Thome recommends regular meetings between teachers and speech-language pathologists, focused on discussing “the goals of the student who stutters, their unique needs, how to measure progress, methods for meeting classroom expectations for “speech therapy and methods for integrating the objectives of speech therapy into the classroom”. Teachers can come away from meetings with ideas for classroom reminders that encourage students who stutter to apply the strategies they learned in speech therapy, Thome writes.

Be mindful of how you appeal to children: Cold calling students has pros and cons, but it can be particularly stressful for students who stutter. Mackesey recommends only calling on these students when their hands are raised and considering opting for yes or no questions that “set the child up for success, both in terms of knowledge and fluency, until ‘until he is ready to progress towards more complex answers’. (But, again, you can discuss this directly with the student; some may be able to tackle more complex questions.)

Additionally, pause and be patient when students who stutter speak; Pay attention to facial cues that might signal frustration or a student’s desire to speed up, Mackesey says. “Although you may be tempted to say ‘slow down,’ ‘breathe,’ or ‘start again,’ don’t do this and don’t finish the child’s sentences or words,” he adds. This advice will not help students become more fluent and will likely only make them more self-conscious.

Connect students to a community: It can be helpful for students who stutter to spend time with people who share their condition. Teachers can refer students and their parents to stuttering support groups, which can help participants “discuss unique and shared experiences, seek advice and encouragement, and identify role models,” Thome writes. Local groups can be found via the National Stuttering Association website.

Eliminate Bullying: A study found that up to 61 percent of students who stutter were victims of bullying, compared to just 22 percent of their non-stuttering peers. Teachers should have a zero-tolerance policy toward stuttering-related harassment — and that should extend to less pernicious forms of harassment, like laughing while students who stutter try to speak, Cina says. This goes a long way to building students’ confidence: Cina works with a first-grader who stutters and who recently told him that he was never nervous about giving a presentation “because I know that if students children make fun of me, my teacher will stop it; she won’t allow it.

In addition to deploying the anti-bullying strategies you already use in the classroom, Cina recommends sitting down with students who stutter to determine which path might work best for them. Some of these students may be working on their own defense and would prefer to have the opportunity to stand up to bullies themselves. Others may prefer greater involvement on the part of the teacher. Mackesey suggests “sitting the bully and victim down after class” to “encourage apologies and forgiveness.”