Don’t be stopped by a stammer
CINEMA-goers have been glued to the big screen this month to watch Colin Firth’s portrayal of the troubled King George VI, who took to the throne after his brother’s controversial abdication.
But The King’s Speech does not deal solely with the murky worlds of politics and the monarchy, but rather with the main character’s very private battle with a debilitating stammer.
The movie has been widely acclaimed for raising the public’s awareness of a condition which, for many people, can lead to a life-long struggle with basic, day-to-day communication.
But what is a stammer?
According to experts, stammering is a broad term which can include a way of speaking which makes a person sound as if they have become stuck on a certain word or sound. They may either repeat sounds, use prolonged sounds, go back on their speech and take a ‘run up’ to a difficult word or do a combination of these things.
In some people, a stammer may not be apparent, but inside they are constantly struggling to swap and change the tough words for easier ones in what becomes a continual inner battle.
To anyone with a stammer, the help of a speech and language therapist can be a lifeline.
Catherine Macpherson is a speech and language therapist for the NHS Northamptonshire Provider Services at the Highfield Clinical Care Centre in Northampton, working with a broad variety of adults with speech difficulties; including stammers.
She said it is difficult to pinpoint one reason for why people stammer.
“There is lots of research going on, but there is some feeling that there is a genetic factor.
“Anxiety can make a stammer worse but doesn’t cause a stammer. People can get fed up with others thinking their stammers are just caused by being stressed or nervous.”
Although brain imaging studies have shown differences between the brain activity of people stammering, compared to fluent speakers, research continues to investigate the exact causes.
Even though precise causes cannot yet be identified, therapists must still work out strategies to help patients with a problem which can have dramatic effects on a person’s life.
Catherine said: “It is about assessment really, first of all we have to work out what their stammer is like, because a stammer can vary quite a lot.
“It might be that people repeat a sound such as t-t-t-table, or repeat words in a sentence like ‘my my my name.’ Some people never obviously stammer as they are always changing the difficult words.
“Some people get a total block where they just can’t get a word out, that really can make things very difficult.
“I have to find out what is happening and how it is affecting them.”
But what happens then?
Catherine said: “It is looking at what strategies are going to help them. Although anxiety isn’t the cause, it does have an impact so sometimes relaxation is an important part; using relaxation and breathing strategies. Then it is looking at techniques of speech and that is different for different people.
“Sometimes it is getting them to slow down. They can control it better by speaking more slowly. Some people need to change the way they are making sounds.”
With many people who stammer, their singing can be fluent while their speech is not.
Catherine explained: “It is quite different when people are singing because you have the rhythm which can help people. Also with singing you have been given the words, that is different from having to think the words before you say them.
“With therapy we will do practical things to help people in situations which are difficult for them, some people will avoid lots of things because of their stammer.”
Lynn Griffiths is a private speech and language therapist who works in Northamptonshire, specialising in work with children. She offers therapy for a range of problems, including stammering.
She said: “Children normally go though a period of normal non fluency (the stage children go through in trying to learn how to say words), but that might develop to become a proper stammer.”
She continued: “If it becomes really bad, or generally by about four, I would think that is the time to do something. There are different techniques to help.
“Always with therapy you assess first and get to know the person and look at different methods which might be suitable for them to use. I would teach strategies for patients to use with their children at home.”
Strategies can include ‘soft contact’ which involves slowing the approach to a difficult word, or desensitising the way they feel about their stammer by recognising the times when it happens and their feelings about the stammer itself, as well as people’s responses to it.
“There are lots of things behind stammering, it can be people around the child using too difficult language for the child to understand. It could be that there is stress at school, perhaps reading out loud in class.
“It can be a process of recognising what makes the stammer worse.”
Ashaur overcame speech problems:
“Next time you approach a counter and ask for something or you’re making a telephone call, just imagine not being able to say the stuff you want to say, then imagine you’re in a glass box and everybody is looking at you; that’s how it feels to live with a stammer, for me anyway,” said 24-year-old Ashaur Rahman.
Ashaur, who lives in Dallington, was about six years old when he developed his covert stammer; the type of stammer which can be controlled through substituting or avoiding words.
He said: “I coped by concealing my stammer for a large part of my life. People are still surprised when they find out that I do stammer because it isn’t that evident. But I tricked myself and people through school with different techniques to cover up the fact I did stammer. Because, as youngsters, that’s when some people are at their most vicious verbally and I didn’t want to become a target for ridicule so I kept it quiet, literally.”
Ashaur finally sought help with his stammer at the age of 21 and received support from speech and language therapist Catherine Macpherson.
He said: “I realised enough was enough and if I wanted to progress in life I had to face my problem full on. I started doing research on the internet about stammering and was aware of people like Gareth Gates and Emily Blunt who also had speech problems. I ended up going to an open day organised by the British Stammering Association and that’s where I met with other stammerers and speech therapists who advised me to get some therapy to control the problem.
“Over the course of two years, me and my speech therapist Catherine Macpherson tackled my dysfluency with numerous techniques which included breathing, slower enunciation and relaxation to allow myself more time to deliver my speech fluently.
“I also found that confidence plays a major role in a person’s speech if they stammer or not.
“From where I was before therapy to where I am now I’d say my speech has improved. I’m not cured, because this is something I’ll always have, but being able to control it when I need it most is a great feeling and gives me confidence which in return should give me better fluency.”
An emerging writer, Ashaur has now been offered a book deal with a London publishing house to see a collection of his poems put in print.
He said: “I’ve always wanted to be involved in some sort of creative art form and for years I tinkered around in my head that I will do this and I will do that but never had the guts to do anything about it. But ever since I faced my stammer and got help, that once bottled creativity burst out of me and I’ve gone on to produce some pieces of art myself.
“I also turned to creative writing and began writing poems, screenplays and short stories. Five of my poems actually got me into the final of The Brit Writer’s Awards 2010. Out of 21,000 entries I made the final seven in my category. Hopefully I’ll have a collection of poetry in print form in the next month or two.
“I feel like writing is my new release therapy, I really can’t be sure but reciting my own rhymes is definitely helping my fluency in some way or another.”
He continued: “Like any disability there are people who will make jokes about someone’s struggles but they need to realise that the person they are mocking is a human too and deserves an equal amount of respect. It could’ve been you or someone you love in a disadvantaged situation. So having some empathy towards a person with a stammer or any other disability would be the right thing to do.
“I think Government programmes need to go into schools and educate more about stammering amongst youngsters and teachers who can understand how to assist people with speech problems.
“Another thing is that employment for adults is a key issue which needs to be raised. A lot of these jobs that are advertised always say that a candidate “must have good telephone manner and good communication skills.” That right there shuts the door in a stammerer’s face. So there definitely has to be more done to give people opportunities to make a living. If you look past the old-fashioned stereotypes of stammerers who have been portrayed as stupid and slow you’ll realise – we’re just like anyone else.”
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