Stuttering or stammering is a speech disorder characterized by sounds or syllables that are repeated and disrupt the normal flow of speech. It is also referred to by health care professionals as disfluent speech. Stuttering is often accompanied by other symptoms such as facial tics, rapid eye blinking or tremors of the lips that make it extremely difficult for the individual to communicate, often affecting the quality of his or her life.
The severity of an individual’s stuttering can vary throughout the day, Certain factors such as speaking in front of others or talking on the telephone may aggravate an individual’s stutter while other factors such as singing or speaking along with others may reduce the stutter.
While stuttering is most common amongst children between the ages of 2 and 5, it can affect an individual at any age. Almost 5% of all children stutter for some period in their lives. The problem usually clears up after a period lasting from several weeks to years, with boys being 3 times more likely to develop the problem than girls. Most children stop stuttering by the time they reach puberty.
So is Stuttering a Disability?
The Act defines the meaning of the term disability as “a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of the major life activities of such individual”. The federal regulations promulgated by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") under the ADA define "physical or mental impairment" to include, among other things, "Any physiological disorder" or "condition" affecting "speech organs" (29 C.F.R. sec. 1630.2(h)(1)), or "any mental or psychological disorder" such as "organic brain syndrome, emotional or mental illness, and specific learning disabilities" (29 C.F.R. sec. 1630.2(h)(2)). The definition of "major life activities" includes "functions such as . . . speaking . . . and working" [29 C.F.R. sec. 1630.2(i)].
Since stuttering is a speech disorder that usually begins in early childhood and is caused by the involuntary loss of coordination or control over the organs of speech, it clearly fulfills the definition of a physiological disorder or condition that affects the speech organs. It also clearly limits the ability of an individual to participate in the “major life activities” of speaking and working.
Even when the stuttering disability does not “substantially limit” a major life activity as defined under 42 U.S.C. sec. 12102(2)(A) of the Act, the condition may still qualify as a disability under sec. 12102(2)(C) since he or she is “regarded as having such an impairment”. The rationale for this can be found in the decision of the Supreme Court in the case of School Board of Nassau County v. Arline, 480 U.S. 273 (1987). The court noted that though an individual’s impairment may not in fact substantially limit a major life activity, the reaction of others to the individual’s impairment may prove to be just as disabling, limiting the individual’s ability to work due to the negative reactions of others towards the impairment.
In the case of Andreson v. Fuddruckers, Inc., Civil Action No. 03-3294, 2004 WL 2931346 (D. Minn., Dec. 14, 2004), the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota upheld the notion that stuttering is a disability under the Americans With Disabilities Act.
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