Announcing 'Stammering Research' - Stammering Research - UCL
Announcing 'Stammering Research' - Stammering Research - UCL
Announcing 'Stammering Research' - Stammering Research - UCL
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<strong>Stammering</strong> <strong>Research</strong>. Vol. 1.<br />
Answer: Before the Apple House course - I pictured my stammer as a one-eyed ugly creature that I<br />
hated and loathed, which came up from the deep and bit me on the bum just when I didn’t want it to.<br />
Now, I regard it in quite a friendly way, although I still hate it. I have it under control rather than it<br />
controlling me and what I say. When I reflect on my stammer, I view it as a disturbance of thinking as<br />
well as speaking performance. My thoughts are tangled and will not unravel so that they can be voiced<br />
smoothly. A stammer is more than a disruption of speech rhythm as feelings and ideas lack a proper<br />
pattern as well.<br />
Question: John, how has your stammer affected you most?<br />
Answer: It made me feel lonely and isolated as if I was the only person in the world with this problem.<br />
Until I came to the Apple House I had only met one other person who spoke like me. My stammer<br />
led to depressed moods preventing me enjoying parties and making small talk with others. As I’ve<br />
said, it didn’t stop me going out with the opposite sex. I’ve had my fair share of girl friends in the past!<br />
However, my stammer made it difficult for me to keep happy and buoyant. It was a constant reminder<br />
that got me down.<br />
Question: John, what made you seek help for your stammer?<br />
Answer: In 1986, I was visiting the outpatient department of the hospital when I noticed a sign for<br />
speech therapy. I enquired at reception and got myself an appointment through my doctor. I attended<br />
the hospital clinic for individual therapy each week for one hour over three months. I found the<br />
treatment helped me to feel happier about myself. I was taught to read fluently out loud which gave me<br />
confidence in talking. Later, I had a personal counselling session at work and my boss asked me if I<br />
wanted to do anything about my speech. I felt angry and annoyed about the suggestion but did agree to<br />
inquiries being made. The firm contacted the Private Patients’ Plan, but they had nothing to offer. I<br />
went back to my doctor who referred me to a speech therapist at my local hospital and as a result I was<br />
transferred to the Apple House.<br />
As soon as I came for my assessment with Gerda, I knew that help was on the way because she was<br />
the first professional I had met who really understood what I was going through. At the start of the<br />
fluency course I was so angry with everyone and felt at the end of my tether. I could not perform well<br />
at home or work and did not want to communicate. Gerda made me aware of the fact that personal<br />
issues, speaking activities and thought processes are all related and have to be considered together for<br />
effective communication.<br />
Question: John, can you tell me how has the Apple House course helped you?<br />
Answer: The course was a last ditch attempt to sort myself out. It gave me a new lease of life. I felt<br />
reborn. There was hope for me again and I felt as though I could fly. The days were very hard work<br />
but there were strategies to make us strong. One that worked for me was the penny pieces. We were<br />
all given ten to keep, but had to surrender one if we fluffed our speech when it could have been<br />
avoided. I was so determined to hold on to mine - giving away a penny was like giving your soul away.<br />
I was not going to let that happen!<br />
We were introduced to so many new ideas and techniques. It was hard to master them. Correct<br />
breathing, slowed speech, soft contacts, relaxation, inner peace and calm were all things to work at in<br />
order to assume control of ourselves in all situations. The course offered us a window of opportunity.<br />
The group allowed a powerful supportive bond to emerge and gave us chances to communicate with<br />
each other and experience a range of talking and reading activities in a relaxed and unthreatening way.<br />
This built confidence and the knowledge that we could think and speak coherently, saying what we<br />
wanted at the right time. One to one therapy is not a natural situation and often becomes too intense<br />
and threatening. The group experience is essential for personal support and practice.<br />
By the seventh day of the course I felt I had cracked my problem speech. I knew what to do and<br />
how to achieve the performance I wanted. The Apple House provided the perfect solution to my<br />
difficulties - a total communication approach with ideal therapy input. The person who leads the<br />
course is most important in the way they offer:<br />
all the time you need to speak without rush<br />
commitment that entails going out of their way to help<br />
friendship alongside professional expertise<br />
help, at any time, if you need it in a bad patch<br />
The therapy gave me choices - to explore and analyse myself and take out the bad bits of my speech<br />
and me and throw them away. I was left with what I liked. After the course I had developed huge selfesteem<br />
and peace and calm within myself. It gave me the means to sort out all my other problems. It<br />
was as though the mists in my head had lifted and I no longer considered myself as a stammerer.<br />
Question: Did these good things started at the Apple House continue for you?<br />
Answer: I was fine for seven months and then I hit a bad patch with some personal difficulties that I<br />
had to cope with. However, I was determined to crack my problems. ‘The monster’ had been in<br />
charge of me for 25 years, and I desperately wanted to reverse that situation. I returned to the Apple<br />
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