Announcing 'Stammering Research' - Stammering Research - UCL
Announcing 'Stammering Research' - Stammering Research - UCL
Announcing 'Stammering Research' - Stammering Research - UCL
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
<strong>Stammering</strong> <strong>Research</strong>. Vol. 1.<br />
Question: Do you see your stammer as an issue for life?<br />
Answer: My stammer is part of me - and I have accepted that it will be there forever. I have adjusted<br />
to it and alter my life to cope with its problems. Although often tempted to escape public or group<br />
speaking, I seldom take avoiding action by getting others to do what I should do myself. In my present<br />
job it has been more a matter of being stereotyped by colleagues as unsuitable for front-of-house work<br />
and, therefore, not given the opportunities that might have come my way. I refrain from pushing<br />
myself into a situation where somebody else could be more effective. You might argue that the net<br />
result has been to foster the idea that I am not really promotable, since the next post upwards would<br />
definitely require more presentational work.<br />
It is fair to say that my stammer has seriously interfered with my job. Talking to large groups of<br />
people is difficult. I make sure I avoid situations, which put pressure on my speech. However, it is<br />
amazing what you can do if you have to, such as acclimatizing oneself to the telephone! I have a life<br />
where I do not have to meet new people all the time. If I had to do so it would produce intolerable<br />
stress as first impressions are so important and I worry that I might let myself down as well as others.<br />
Question Paul, how do you think about your stammer?<br />
Answer I think about it as feeble and cowardly as it makes you opt out of things. A stammer puts one<br />
at a huge disadvantage and produces great dissatisfaction with situations that involve others. You can<br />
never be comfortable and relax in case it strikes and causes havoc. Writers depict people who stammer<br />
as very unattractive creatures with cringe-making qualities.<br />
How others think about you can be quite oppressive. When I was young my mother was constantly<br />
concerned about my dysfluent speech, whilst father thought I might grow out of it. This produced two<br />
different types of pressure on me. My family has always been supportive, but I feel very awkward<br />
when I do stammer in front of them. It is a very negative experience for everybody and sets up a<br />
barrier in relationships.<br />
Question Paul, how has your stammer affected you most?<br />
Answer Socially, it has held me back a great deal. I am constantly worried by the possibility of<br />
blocks in speech and long silences in front of other people. The stammer hits you on the head when you<br />
are least expecting it as I can be fluent for ten minutes and then have an awful block in speaking. This<br />
has made me very insecure. Basically, I am a sociable person and enjoy the company of others. I feel I<br />
am being robbed of the pleasure of conversation.<br />
As regards my career, the stammer has prevented me choosing my favoured path, which would have<br />
been an academic one. In university life, one is constantly on show to others and a reputation is made<br />
on the basis of skills with spoken as well as written words. I have the academic knowledge but not the<br />
performance ability.<br />
Question Paul, what made you seek help for your stammer?<br />
Answer My mother thought that this was necessary. I had informal counselling with my uncle, when<br />
I was about ten. When this did not result in any improvement in speaking I went to a Saturday clinic at<br />
Guys hospital and did work with a voice specialist. I felt this was a complete waste of time. Then I got<br />
referred to a research project at St. George’s hospital, Knightsbridge. We were played records of story<br />
reading and had to shadow this process. It was useless! By this time I was feeling quite angry and<br />
bolshee!<br />
I stumbled on throughout my teenage years until I arrived at Oxford and was referred to Dr.<br />
Seymour Spencer, at the Warneford hospital, for depression. He became interested in speech therapy,<br />
partly because he felt my sessions with him would make faster progress if I could speak more fluently.<br />
Dr. Spencer suggested I join a research project which was starting up in 1964. I declined the first offer<br />
of a place at the Warneford, but in 1967 I had another chance on Gerda’s third course. She had just<br />
taken over the research project. I joined an intensive group course that was organised at the hospital,<br />
although I was cautious and apprehensive due to my previous experiences of speech therapy. At this<br />
stage my rating on assessment suggested I was stammering on more than 30 words in a sample of 100.<br />
This was very high.<br />
Question Paul, can you tell me how the Apple House course has helped you?<br />
Answer From day one of the course I became a great deal more fluent. However, I was very tense,<br />
lacked confidence and was quite obsessive about the techniques. In one way this was an advantage in<br />
the initial stages of treatment when I had to concentrate hard in order to master new ways of talking. I<br />
may have been helped by a musician’s sense of metre as well as rhythm. Later on obsession became<br />
more of a minus I suppose.<br />
The course introduced me to some behaviour modification methods that were aimed at breaking<br />
down bad talking habits by introducing syllable-timed speech. In English, we are used to using stresstimed<br />
speech so I needed tremendous effort to control what I was doing. The technique was useful, as I<br />
was able to exert control over speaking and this was a wonderful feeling. I could speak fluently<br />
without anxiety. However, I suffered bad relapses and had to take two further courses at the Warneford<br />
276