Stammering

More men than women stammer. There is a 20% greater chance of you stammering if a close relative has a stammer There is no difference between stammering and stuttering; they are two words with the same meaning People who stammer can usually whisper and sing without stammering, like Pop Idol Gareth Gates Famous stammerers include Moses, Aristotle, Aesop, Virgil, King Charles I, Charles Darwin, Marilyn Monroe and Napoleon

About 9% (almost 1 in 10) of the UK population stammers. It is about three times more common in males than females. It usually starts in childhood – between the ages of 2 and 5 – but most children grow out of it without any specific therapy.

Why stammering occurs
Putting thoughts into words and then organizing speech so that the words flow well is a very complex task for the human brain. It is amazing that we do not all stammer. No one understands why stammering occurs, but a lot of research is being done to find out.
Stammering seldom occurs when a single word is being spoken or read, but it usually occurs at the beginning of a sentence or idea. Different parts of the brain deal with language processing and the formation of speech, and scientists are looking at the coordination between these processes. One study suggests that, in stammerers, speech formation jumps the gun before the language processing has been completed. Other researchers are looking at the roles of chemicals in the brain that transmit messages between brain cells.

How to help yourself
There are various ways in which you can help yourself. The British Stammering Association suggests the following approach.

Define the problem. What do you actually do when you stammer?

• Do you repeat sounds (s...s...s...supper) or syllables (su...su...su...supper)?
• Do you prolong sounds (sssssssupper)?
• Do you get blocked in speech so that you are unable to make any sound (s...upper)?
• Do you close your eyes or rush through speech?
• Do you try to avoid the word by changing it for another that is easier to say?
• Do you give up speaking altogether?

You also need to consider what you feel about your stammer.

• Do you think it is severe or quite mild?
• Do you think it is holding you back in your social life or at work?
• Is it better in some situations and with some people?
• How do you feel when you stammer: embarrassed?; annoyed?; frustrated?
• Do you get angry with other people, with yourself, or both?

Tackle the problem piece by piece. Having analysed your stammer, tackle it one element at a time, starting with something you feel you might be able to change. For example, you might take one sentence of your speech two or three times a day and make a special effort to say that sentence slowly and calmly. Do not allow yourself to rush or panic; when speaking more slowly, most people stammer less. Or perhaps you might try to concentrate on not looking away from people, or not closing your eyes when you stammer.

Do not try to hide your stammer. You have probably adopted some ‘avoidance behaviours’ to hide or avoid your stammer. The problem is that the more you avoid, the more you need to go on avoiding. If you are avoiding very successfully, you may be thought to be fluent by workmates, partner and friends, but you have to be constantly vigilant to maintain this fluency. Your stammer does not improve or go away because you hide it.
Try to reduce the number of times that you avoid saying a particular word or talking to a particular person or speaking in a particular situation. As well as experimenting with stammering more openly, you may find it useful to try to talk about your stammer to one or two people who are close to you. You will start to learn that people are not as critical as you thought.

Be aware of degrees of fluency. You may think there are only two possibilities – either you stammer or you are fluent. Watch and listen carefully when people are speaking on buses, on radio phone-ins, at home and in shops. Is everyone as fluent, concise and articulate as you imagined? You may discover that many apparently fluent speakers are, in fact, quite hesitant when speaking, and that there is not such a clear division between speaking fluently and stammering. You may then begin to accept that you do not have to be fluent all the time.

Echo earpiece
Some stammers find they can sing along with others, and that their stammer is not as bad when they are with a lot of people all talking together in the same room. To reproduce this effect, an earpiece has been developed that sends out an echo of the user’s voice. It helps to ‘unblock’ the impediment to speech. The device is being tested in scientific studies. According to the British Stammering Association, it helps some people but not all.

If you are a parent and your child stammers
Stammering is quite common in the pre-school years. Although three out of four children will grow out of it, many authorities think that pre-schoolers who stutter should be treated. Research in Australia has shown that treating pre-schoolers with speech therapy using a technique called the Lidcombe programme works well (British Medical Journal2005;331:659–61). Therefore it is worth discussing the problem with your doctor. The British Stammering Association (see useful contacts) has a useful page on its website called ‘Stammering in preschool children – how parents can help’. If your child is of school age, you could tell his/her teachers about the special sections for teachers on the website of the Michael Palin Centre for Stammering Children (see useful contacts).

Speech therapy
You should get the help of a speech and language therapist, preferably one who specializes in the treatment of stammering. Your doctor can refer you, or you can get in touch with a therapist yourself. The therapy may be on an individual basis, or may be in a group. If you have already had speech therapy and feel that you were not helped, try again because therapy may have changed and you may have changed.

Helping a stammerer

• Do not give unhelpful advice, such as ‘slow down’ or ‘take a deep breath’. Just accept that the person stammers.
• Do be patient and maintain eye contact with the stammerer when he or she speaks.
• Do not interrupt or finish words or sentences for the stammerer. This is frustrating for the stammerer and you may guess wrongly.
• Concentrate on what is being said, rather than how it is being said.

Useful contacts
British Stammering Association provides advice about all aspects of stammering. Its website is full of useful information. Write to: 15 Old Ford Road, London E2 9PJ, UK. Tel: 020 8983 1003.
www.stammering.org

Michael Palin Centre for Stammering Children is a joint initiative between the not-for-profit Association for Research into Stammering and the UK National Health Service. It is named for the actor Michael Palin who played a stammerer in the film ‘A Fish Called Wanda’. The website has plenty of useful information on stammering and possible treatments, including a ‘top tips’ section for stammerers, their friends, families and teachers. Write to: Finsbury Health Centre, Pine Street, London EC1R 0LP, UK. Tel: 020 7530 4238.
www.stammeringcentre.org/s-The_Michael_Palin_Centre

Stammering. A Practical Guide for Teachers and Other Professionals is a book written by Rustin, Cook, Botherill, Hughes and Kelman mainly for teachers, but parents of children who stammer will find it very worth reading. The publisher is David Fulton, London (ISBN 1-85346-585-2). Hughes is the Schools Liaison Officer for the British Stammering Association, and the other authors are speech and language therapists for the Michael Palin Centre for Stammering Children.

Acknowledgement
Some of the information in this section is taken from a leaflet called The Adult Who Stammers published by the British Stammering Association.