People who stutter face prejudice, ORF reports
Saturday 17th October 2026 on 18:15 in
Austria
People who stutter are often confronted with misconceptions about their intelligence and ability to express themselves, according to a report by ORF’s noe.ORF.at. Stuttering affects about 5% of children at least temporarily and around 1% of adults.
Christian Rauscher has stuttered since kindergarten. Everyday interactions, such as quickly greeting someone, can be difficult. He says pressure can make his throat tense and leave words feeling stuck. Therapy has helped him manage such moments, including by using a gesture or nod as he greets people.
Rauscher says people sometimes assume that those who stutter do not know what they want to say, or that stuttering indicates an intellectual disability or schizophrenia. He says he has been wrongly associated with such diagnoses.
World Stuttering Day is observed annually on October 22 to raise awareness, challenge prejudice and highlight the concerns of people who stutter. Speech therapists can provide support. Viktoria Praschl, a speech therapist with a practice in Baden, says common signs include repeating sounds or syllables, stretching sounds and blocks in the middle of words.
Researchers believe stuttering has neurological causes, with genetic factors also playing an important role, but why some people stutter and others do not is not fully understood. Changes such as a new sibling or a move may make stuttering more noticeable for a time, Praschl says, but are not considered causes. She stresses that neither parents nor children are to blame.
Therapy can work on speech and fluency as well as on managing stuttering in daily life. Praschl advises against treating it as a taboo or finishing a person’s sentences for them. Giving someone time to speak can help children maintain confidence and avoid withdrawing from conversation.
Praschl suggests that people who stutter may choose to tell friends or teachers what support they need. Rauscher says others can ask how best to help, as the preferred approach differs from person to person.