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Claire

Claire is a member of British Stammering Association Scotland

Audio quote from Claire

'My name's Claire. I am a biomedical scientist and I stammer. Well, sometimes I stammer quite a lot, but sometimes I don't. But even when I'm not stammering, it's always on my mind. It's not a superficial thing, and also it's not caused by nervousness.

'Take two children. They both stammer. The teacher says, "What's 3 x 4?". The first child stammers obviously, and says 12. The second child can't say 12 and so chooses to give 11 - the wrong answer. What child is worse affected by stammering?

'I am more likely to stammer on words I can't avoid saying such as names and numbers and when giving my address and post code, which means I do find the telephone quite challenging. Or, if I'm put on the spot and there's a specific answer I must give to a question, I'm going to really struggle to say that.

'Sometimes the fear of stammering, and the fear of people's reaction to it, is worse than stammering itself. So in the past I've actually arrived late to groups because I've known I'd have to introduce myself in front of other people.

'I am more able to attend groups now after attending support groups and events arranged by the British Stammering Association Scotland. But if I'm in a group with you and I stammer - please don't finish off my sentences. This makes me really angry. I want to get my own point across and I find it condescending. Also what is helpful is to maintain eye contact.

'If you feel uneasy when speaking to someone who stammers, please don't show it. I'm highly sensitive towards people's reaction. If I get a hint of a negative reaction I will be very wary to stammer in front of that person again. I would probably only say what I could say and not what I wanted to say. And would be unlikely to continue participating in the group in the future.

'Don't advise people who stammer on how to speak. Comments like "take your time" or "speak slowly" are not really helpful and do sound patronising.

'And if you wanted to speak to me about my stammer - most people who stammer don't mind speaking about it, but please do it in a one-to-one situation, not in front of a group.

'Some people know that I stammer, but they don't really understand what it means. They think I don't like going to the bar to get drinks because I'm tight. They don't realise it's because I fear I might stammer when asking for them.

'I know that people might feel a but uneasy when speaking to someone who stammers, but it would make it a lot easier if people:

• did not finish off sentences
• if they knew to maintain eye contact, and
• if they did feel uneasy they tried not to show it, and
• they didn't try to advise the speaker by saying " speak slowly" or "take your time".'