Stuttering Hub

The Power of Stress

For a person who stutters, stress is said to be contributing factor to stuttering more often. You may have experienced it yourself. You might have been going through a particular bad patch, and found yourself just blocking more in general. We can't really explain it. It just happens...

The best explanation I can give is stress, because that's what it most likely is!

Anyway, life has been quite hectic recently. Work has been busy. Deadlines looming. I've been under a lot of pressure and times have been stressful as of late... BUT... I've found that when I've been communicating with others while in this state, I've been speaking very calmly and quite fluently.

I've noticed that I've been under strain, but the strain is making me speak peacefully!

Now, how do you explain that? I've haven't got a clue. Let me know if you do...

Stammering is Hell

According to Hrithik Roshan, the Bollywood movie star it is...

In an Indian talk show, Hrithik shared his experiences of being a person who stutters. He described how he was made fun of school, bunked off school, and fell ill when he had oral tests.

I could so relate to his story of when he began to start stammering when he was 6, and was in complete shock.  He didn't know why? I was the same. I remember I was at school at the time, and wanted to ask the teacher a question. About 6 other kids were rushing to speak as well. As soon as I started to speak, I blocked. I became confused for a moment, and then thought nothing of it. I tried to get the words out again. Again the block. Now I was really worried... I didn't know what it was.

I can remember like becoming a panic after then...

Funny thing for me is, 20 years later, I still don't know why!?

One thing Hrithik did mention, was how he still fulfilled his dreams of being an actor despite his stammering.

Similarities in Experiences of People Who Stammer from Ethnically Diverse Communities

I remember when I first started to get help for stuttering around 7 years ago, it was good. I finally met other people who stammered. I didn't feel as isolated...

Since then, I've met around 8-9 people of South Asian origin, who were of either Indian, Pakistani or Bangladeshi origin. Our stories were SO similar. We were adults who stammered, but didn't tell anyone. We all felt tremendous embarrassment at having the problem. I remember one guy telling me, he could never tell his family because of the shame it would bring upon them.

There was one guy who over 40 years old, and hadn't even told his wife that he stammered!

It really did make me wonder whether our ethnicity and cultural upbringing had an impact on our experiences.

The Hidden Within The Hidden

Stammering is hidden. It's not visible, like a physical impairment. A person who stammers can look able and seem well. But on the inside, he or she can be suffering terribly.

A person who stammers can lead a life of constant hiding... I think any person who stammers has experienced this at some point in their lives. It's an invisible disability.

But there are other people who stammer who are hidden amongst the hidden.

These are individuals from ethnic minority communities - those who are outnumbered by the majority of the population in the nation where they live.

I believe the experiences a person who stammers can uniquely be shaped by their culture and ethnicity. And such experiences can differ across cultures and ethnic groups. These differences are caused by a number of things.

It can be the influence of family and the pressure to 'be' in a certain way or act in a particular manner. It could be due to unfavourable and outdated attitudes of 'fluent' people from these communities towards the condition of stammering.

Because their experiences are different, so are their needs. However these needs can never be fully understood, without an appreciation of the lives of such people, and the challenges they face in the every day environments.

Unfortunately, the number of studies in this area have been limited. I can probably count all of them on 2 hands.

It's time for some changes...

Back From BSA Conference

Friends, I came back from the BSA conference today...

It was good to catch up with old friends and make some new ones. I felt particularly inspired when speaking to a couple of people who were attending such an event for the first time! It takes courage and the first step is always the trickiest.

The weather was particularly sunny and warm in London, which was great. In fact, I think we've had better weather since the beginning of September, than the whole summer!

I gave my presentation entitled Cultural and Ethnic Differences in Stammering, which seemed to stir up some debate!

I'm going to be writing a series of future posts looking into issues faced by people who stammer from different cultures and ethnic minority groups... so watch this space.

So You're Still Doubting?

Real life stories are always inspiring...

I came across a story of a man who used to stammer when you was younger. However, he went onto become a priest... a job that requires lots of talking.

An example of inner strength humans can have. All you need to do is go for it!!!