The Stammering Helpline

I am some what angry as I write this article today. My father had recently hesard about a telephone helpline which is run by the British Stammering Association here in the UK. He was interested to see what advice they were giving to people who stammer and their families as I had had to endure life with a stammering problem for eighteen years.

During these eighteen years my dad became very annoyed at the lack of quality of help that was around. Speech therapy was basically pathetic and a waste of time for people who stammer. The speech therapists themselves were less than confident. This is what one therapist said to me:

"There is not a known cure for stammering Steve."

"So I am going to have to accept that I will have the stammer for the rest of my life?"

"Yes I am afraid so Steve."

So how come then that I have now been fluent for the last thirteen years? Well it was no thanks to him or his colleagues!

Anyway going back to the original theme of this article!

My dad decided to ring this stammering helpline:

"Hi there I am phoning on behalf of my son, I hope you can be of help to me. He has been attending the more traditional forms of speech therapy for a long time and it just isn't proving to be of benefit. He is now getting very frustrated and quite angry, I am actually worried that he might try and self-harm himself in some way. I am more than keen to help him in any way that I can and am now looking for a more specialist form of treatment. Do you know of any stammering courses or people who have managed to overcome their own stammer that could possibly be of assistance? I am not looking for any guarantees as I am aware that any type of therapy requires hard work and practice.

Stammering helpline operator: So where does your son live?

My dad: He lives in the West Midlands.

Stammering helpline operator: Well in your region there are three qualified speech therapists, the first is a lady.......

My dad: Excuse me, I am definitely not looking for a speech therapist, I thought I had explained that. I am looking for somebody who can offer my son a more specialized service. Do you know of any person who can possibly help?

Stammering helpline operator: No I am sorry.

My dad: Well I know of at least one person who runs stammering speech courses which are on a one-to-one basis and are aimed at people like my son. Have you heard of these courses?

Stammer helpline operator: Yes

My dad: So why did you not mention them when I asked?

Stammering helpline operator: Well they offer a cure and I am therefore not allowed by the British Stammering Association rules to give out their name.

My dad: I was not looking for any guarantees. I can hear that you have a speech impediment; you should be ashamed of yourself. I have stated that I am scared that my son could harm himself but still you do not offer me any decent advice. Stammering helpline - what a joke!

By: blueboy

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Steve Hill is a speech coach from Birmingham, he has a number of websites including: stuttering stuttering therapy stuttering treatment