This International Stammer Awareness Day, we wanted to share with you words from Paediatric and Adult Occupational Therapist Deb Gardner.

“My name is Deb Gardner and I have a stammer”.

Today is International Stammer Awareness Day and I would like to share with you, what it is like to live with a Stammer and to also highlight how having a stammer may impact on the clients we work with.

My early experiences of having a stammer, was at primary school. The morning class register was an agonising experience for me, as I was unable to answer to my name being called out without stammering and I remember vividly my fellow pupils laughing at my stammering struggles.  Unfortunately, people who stammer will have experienced mocking and ridicule at some time in their life.

I didn’t receive Speech and Language Therapy, so, over the years, I learnt the art of hiding my Stammer, by developing my own personal strategies to cover up my stammer – like a lot of fellow Stammerers’.

These are personal to me and include, but are not exhaustive of;

• Avoiding beginning a sentence with a word that I knew I would stammer over e.g. the letters W, O, Y or the sounds Wh, Occ. Ye
• Exercising breath control before saying a word that I know will instigate my stammer
• Putting stress and emphasis on the initial letter of the word that will cause me to stammer, which unfortunately, makes it sound like I’m ‘barking’ the word out.
• Repeating a word that pre-decides a stammering triggering word.
• Using strategies to break up a sentence, such as; a “tut” to enable me to create a sort of natural break, to enable me to facilitate a breath control, or emphasise a stress on the initial letter of the next word coming up or to give me time to scan and re-form the future sentence structure.

Some people who have stutters, can actually learn to think that fast, that we can re-structure a sentence, in-action, during the narration of a sentence.

Like other fellow stutterers’, I am able to covertly contain my stutter with strategies already mentioned. However, my stutter becomes overt during times of emotionally stressful events e.g. the loss of a family member or close friend or bullying at school or in the workplace.

When I was preparing for this blog, I did some research on how some employers view their employees who have a stammer.  Some employers reported they would not promote an employee who has a stammer.  What that could mean to the employee with a stutter, is not only a reduction in opportunities for promotion, but at risk of becoming de-skilled, negatively impacts on their life chances.

People who have had a head injury or catastrophic injury, can develop a stutter or non-fluency of speech, or, they may have a covert stutter, that due to their injury, they no longer have the skills to navigate.

With the research available of reduced chances of promotion to a person who stutters, can you imagine the obstacles someone who has a head injury and a stutter has to face, to succeed within the workplace. As clinicians working with clients who have a head injury/catastrophic injury, together with a newly acquired stutter, or the re-surfacing of an existing stutter, we need to advocate for them, to maximise their educational/vocational/employment potential. Don’t avoid speaking to them about their stutter because either you are embarrassed, or you don’t want to embarrass them. Instead, gently enquire about their stutter and ask if they would like support from a Speech and Language Therapist.

People who stutter, develop a resilience and strength of character, that employers should be embracing rather than shunning. I have presented to national and international audiences on the role of Occupational Therapy and rehabilitation of acquired brain injury. If my speech starts to become disfluent, I observe people looking away, down at the floor, embarrassed for me – but I have learnt to persevere, alter my sentence, in order to regain some fluency of speech to continue.  

I presented recently, at an away day with JSP, we were keen to provide an overview of the OT service developments which was kindly squeezed into the packed agenda. I heard Business Clinical Lead/Regional Manager Gemma saying, “Deb has a lot to say”. It reminded me of the time I came across an old school report – it was my last report at primary school, before going onto secondary school. My teacher who had taught me throughout my primary school years, had written, “My only wish is that Deb will find her voice”.

I was shocked to read that comment – it highlighted that I had been reluctant to speak, due to my stutter, to prevent ridicule from my peers.  Due to my immaturity, I hadn’t gathered a skill set of strategies and I had effectively become silent.

I can now confidently say “I have found my voice” and others appreciate that too and see the value in what I do to support my clients. 

My name is Deb Gardner, I have a stutter and I am proud to wear my Stutter Awareness Broach.

Sources:

Çağlayan, A., & Özdemir, R. S. (2022). The attitudes of employers towards stuttering and people who stutter: Descriptive research. Turkiye Klinikleri Journal of Health Sciences.

Gabel, R. M., Blood, G. W., Tellis, G. M., & Althouse, M. T. (2004). Measuring role entrapment of people who stutter. Journal of Fluency Disorders, 29(1), 27-49.

Gerlach, H., Totty, E., Subramanian, A., & Zebrowski, P. (2018). Stuttering and labor market outcomes in the United States. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 61(7), 1649-1663.

Hurst, M. I., & Cooper, E. B. (1983). Employer attitudes toward stuttering. Journal of Fluency Disorders, 8(1), 1-12.

Klein, J. F., & Hood, S. B. (2004). The impact of stuttering on employment opportunities and job performance. Journal of fluency disorders, 29(4), 255-273.

Plexico, L. W., Hamilton, M. B., Hawkins, H., & Erath, S. (2019). The influence of workplace discrimination and vigilance on job satisfaction with people who stutter. Journal of Fluency Disorders, 62, 105725.

Below is a good article.  I tried to copy the link, however it was unsuccessful.

STUTTERING AND EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION by William D. Parry from Pennsylvania, USA