Stammering is hidden. It's not visible, like a physical impairment. A person who stammers can look able and seem well. But on the inside, he or she can be suffering terribly.
A person who stammers can lead a life of constant hiding... I think any person who stammers has experienced this at some point in their lives. It's an invisible disability.
But there are other people who stammer who are hidden amongst the hidden.
These are individuals from ethnic minority communities - those who are outnumbered by the majority of the population in the nation where they live.
I believe the experiences a person who stammers can uniquely be shaped by their culture and ethnicity. And such experiences can differ across cultures and ethnic groups. These differences are caused by a number of things.
It can be the influence of family and the pressure to 'be' in a certain way or act in a particular manner. It could be due to unfavourable and outdated attitudes of 'fluent' people from these communities towards the condition of stammering.
Because their experiences are different, so are their needs. However these needs can never be fully understood, without an appreciation of the lives of such people, and the challenges they face in the every day environments.
Unfortunately, the number of studies in this area have been limited. I can probably count all of them on 2 hands.
It's time for some changes...
