Stammering made worse by isolation of lockdown
Alex Lloyd finds that the number of people seeking help for the speech problem doubled during 2020
Communication has been more complicated for all of us since the pandemic began. But for many stammerers, the rigours of lockdown life have made their speech disorder harder to manage.
Action for Stammering Children saw a 57 per cent spike in calls to its helpline from parents after lockdown kicked in – a rise that continued into summer. They had double the amount of usual calls in 2020.
A survey by Stamma also found two in five adults have stammered more as video calls, masks and a lack of day-to-day chat inhibit conversation and trigger anxiety.
While eight per cent of children will develop a stammer at some point – and one per cent continue into adulthood – the causes of the condition continue to elude experts.
Boys are around three times more likely to stammer than girls but otherwise all races and cultures are equally affected.
Contrary to stereotypes, it is not a sign of lower intelligence, nerves or shyness. But decades of stigma mean many stammerers experience low confidence and bullying, which can impede their schooling and career.
“There’s nothing wrong with stammering – it is simply a difference in the way the brain processes speech, similar to dyslexia,” explains speech and language therapist Ben BoltonGrant, of Leeds Beckett University.
“There are three core stammering behaviours you might hear – repetition of syllables and sounds, prolongation or stretching of a sound, and a block, where there is a complete stop.”
Time to talk
For a parent, realising your child has a stammer can trigger feelings of worry, guilt and helplessness, which Victoria Wiggins, from Malpas, Cheshire, knows only too well.
Her son Sam was three when she noticed him repeating sounds. When he started avoiding tricky words and holding his breath while talking, she sought professional help
– and it was transformative for the whole family.
Victoria, 37, says: “We gained useful tools to support him, like slowing our own speech and not finishing his sentences. Now Sam is comfortable with himself and confident.”
But even self-assured Sam, 11, who has acted in the TV show Brassic, found the pandemic trying and for the first time ever, cried about his speech.
Victoria says: “Education is key.
Sam has never been bullied at school because he gives an annual presentation to his classmates about stammers. Adults are less sure how to react though. The most important advice I could give about speaking to a stammerer is to give them time to finish and don’t interrupt.”
Confidence is key
Alongside equipping stammerers with tools to aid communication, specialists like Ben work to build confidence, resilience and positive thinking to participate fully in society.
In normal times, he runs residential courses for teenagers called Talking Out where they do outdoor activities that push their comfort zones.
“The key message is, it is OK to stammer but it is not OK to struggle,” he explains. “The difficulty this year has been having to communicate through new interfaces where speaking is a more conscious decision and, for the first time, stammerers may opt out of participating.”
Student and motivational speaker Musharaf ‘Mushy’ Asghar, who came to fame in 2013 as a schoolboy with a stammer in Channel 4’s Educating Yorkshire, says talking in online
Masks are tricky as people can’t see you are trying to get a word out
lectures has been significantly more intimidating for him than giving a speech on stage.
“There is an anxiety when you press un-mute that you don’t have in person,” explains the 24-year-old from Dewsbury.
“Masks have also been tricky. People can’t see you are trying to get a word out. While the TV show was brilliant for raising awareness, after viewers saw me give a speech, they assumed my stammer was cured. It was not.”
But Mushy hasn’t let this hold him back. He is studying broadcast journalism, has a YouTube channel and gives talks to conferences and schools.
“I want to show you can still do what you want in life with a stammer,” he says.
“Look at President-elect Joe Biden.”
Embrace your difference
Evidence shows trying to conceal or ‘cure’ a stammer can simply perpetuate anxiety and increase isolation, but when some societies continue to see it as a problem, it is understandable that those with the speech disorder feel pressured to ‘conform’.
Ben says using pitying terms or describing a person’s level of stammering that day as good or bad are unhelpful, however well-meaning, while a YouGov poll found 24 per cent of 18 to 24 year olds still think it is OK to mock a stammer – something operations executive William Laven experienced.
“I dreaded the moment the school register reached my name and became so self-conscious growing up,” says William, 22, from Walton on Thames, Surrey. “But things changed in 2016 when I attended a course at the Michael Palin Centre for Stammering. I came away with a different mindset. It taught me to love my stammer – I don’t need to hide it or change it.”
Now William is a ‘stambassador’ for Action for Stammering Children and completed an apprenticeship last May, but he admits working from home has meant his speech has been like “an old car you struggle to start on a cold day”.
He encourages other young people to be upfront about their speech disorder when applying for jobs or meeting new people.
“This takes the pressure off both sides,” he says. “I wish I’d been taught how to cope with my stammer at a younger age but, luckily, attitudes are finally changing.”