口吃汙名化之探討與省思

The Stigma of People Who Stutter

口吃是語言障礙的一種，口吃者會有首語難發、重覆、中斷、延長…等說話問題，也可能會伴隨擠眉眨眼、喉部用力等第二症狀，這些症狀會干擾口吃者的溝通效度，使口吃者對社交溝通產生焦慮、恐懼或是逃避，給口吃者的心理造成極大的壓力。由於一般社會大眾對口吃的了解不足，口吃者常會有被汙名化的情況發生；口吃者常被認為是內向、害羞、焦慮、緊張…等，口吃者也可能被誤會是能力比較差的或是比較不聰明的，這些汙名化的行為，會影響口吃者求職、交友等情況，使得學業、工作或是日常生活等方面受到不平等的對待。然而，口吃者也可能有汙名內化的反應，影響自尊、自我形象與自我認同，更加劇口吃對生活之負面影響。打破對口吃的迷思，減少汙名化的行為，協助口吃者融入社會，將是這個平等社會中重要的課題之一。此外，鼓勵口吃者面對口吃，勇敢接受相關的治療（例如：語言治療），亦有助於口吃者自身情緒與症狀減輕。

Stuttering is one of speech disorder. People who stutter (PWS) may have difficulty speaking, repeated words or sounds, halting speech production... etc., and may be accompanied by a second symptom, such as squeezing their eyes and throat. These symptoms may interfere with the communication validity of PWS, causing PWS to have anxiety, fear or escape from the social communication. Because the public has insufficient understanding of stuttering, PWS meets stereotype and stigma, such as shy, anxious, nervous...etc. PWS may be misunderstood as being less capable or less intelligent. These stigmatized behaviors may affect PWS difficult to finding job or making friends. Reducing stigmatization and helping PWS to integrate into the society will be one of the important topics. In addition, encourage PWS to face stuttering and to receive relevant treatments (eg, speech therapy) is important. It also helps PWS to improve their emotions and symptoms.