Main Article Content
Abstract
The importance of effective communication skills cannot be overemphasized in various aspects of life. However, stammering, a condition marked by speech disruptions, makes it difficult and sometimes impossible, for those who suffer it to efficiently communicate. The influence of the speech condition for stammers extends far beyond words, thus deeply impacting their quality of life and social connections. Worse still, is the unfortunate reality that stammering individuals often bear the weight of societal stigmatization and discrimination, owing to their plight. Hence, this paper focuses on public perception of stigmatization and discrimination against people living with stammering at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Employing a cross-sectional survey research design, 200 respondents aged 16 and above, for the structured questionnaire, were selected using a simple random sampling technique. Findings reveal a significant link between respondents' educational background and their propensity to stigmatization and discrimination (p=0.038). Age and gender were also found to show no statistically significant difference in the perception of the respondents, on stigmatization and discrimination against stutters, as both have a p-value of 0.051 and 0.551 respectively. In the light of the above results, the study advocates for the creation of an enabling environment, which affords stutters equal opportunities with their fluent-speaking peers.