Speech therapy needs focus on stammering

Speech therapy needs focus on stammering

25 November 2020

A LOCAL councillor who has a stammer has appealed for more dedicated support for children who experience issues with their speech.

Slieve Croob councillor Alan Lewis — who has learnt to control his stammer — said that as someone whose childhood was “effectively wrecked, academically stifled and hounded by bullying” he knew only too well the difficulties faced by many young people who are curtailed by speech difficulties. 

Cllr Lewis believes stammering is a psychological, not a physical, impediment and that more must be done to offer early intervention, focus resources and support young people by ensuring a spotlight is shone on the causes of stammering, not just the physical manifestations of how it affects breathing, word formation and speech.

He said the Education Authority (EA) regarded stammering as an issue to be referred to health trusts who deal with it by assigning speech and language therapists.

Cllr Lewis said while EA psychologists will intervene if a child is experiencing emotional difficulties, he believes and will be lobbying for recognition that stammering is the manifestation of childhood anxiety.

“I was passed off from school to a health trust, learnt breathing techniques, read a book slowly from front to back going over the words again and again, pushed to breaking point and forced and encouraged to stammer in public so as I became used to people’s reactions and how to deal with them,” he continued.”

“None of this addressed the actual problem and, in fact, I’d argue made it worse. From what I’ve heard of today’s methods nothing much has changed. Emotional difficulties and anxiety is not as a result of stammering, but the issues which manifest it. 

“The EA must recognise this in isolation and not overlook it because a child isn’t experiencing other learning difficulties. You can be effectively mute, but intelligent.”

Cllr Lewis said he remembers as a child being laughed at in shops, unable to tell the assistant what he wanted while in school he dreaded group activities, describing get to know you ice breaker games as “pure torture”.

He said that when he got on the bus he wrote down where wanted to go right up until my early 20s, revealing that he always carried a pen and paper in case he needed to write down what he wanted to say. 

He continued: “There was worry, anxiety and gut-wrenching sickness as all the feelings built up nervousness as I prepared to open my mouth and attempt to speak. 

“Nobody can understand or begin to imagine the absolute complete fear of failure any young child experiences when put into the situation where you are forced to speak.

“It’s easier to stay in the background, be unseen, unheard and unremarkable. This frustrates your confidence as you know you have a valid point to make, an opinion to give or part to play but, unfortunately, you are tongue tied, unable to relay your thoughts into words so you stay silent.”

Cllr Lewis also revealed that public silence manifested into private anger, explaining that as a child, he took out his frustrations on his parents, picking unnecessary arguments and that the displaced enjoyment of raising his voice within the home “developed an unhealthy and sometimes abnormal relationship with close relatives”.

Cllr Lewis hopes he is speaking directly to young people reading this article and encouraged them not to be deterred or put off from achieving their goals.

“It was always my ambition to be a politician. I had a keen interest in history and politics and in the last council election knocked well over 3,000 doors in the district, speaking to residents from Spa to Ballyward, topping the poll in Slieve Croob.

“I have given speeches in Newry, Downpatrick, Belfast, Washington, San Diego, Brussels and Ypres proving that nobody is below their dreams. I want to use my position to lobby for improvements, support young people by ensuring that those with a stammer facing difficulties are given the help they need,” he declared.

Cllr Lewis said that each time his grandmother saw a newspaper article on stammering she would cut it out and give it to him, offering to help anyone who finds themselves in a similar situation to him.

He continued: “I understand what they are experiencing and believe that working together we can seek to change the  system to ensure young people are given the very best start in life. Those who need a shoulder to lean on must be helped.

“My appeal to the Department of Education and EA is not to abdicate their responsibility. It’s shocking to learn that schools must take money from their own budget to facilitate counselling for pupils.”

Calling for direct investment in schools for full-time mental health workers focusing on children with complex confidence and anxiety issues, Cllr Lewis said that simply teaching children to mask a stammer wasn’t helpful.

He added: “It’s like showing someone with a broken leg how to spend their life relying on crutches and walking aids. There must be renewed focus on understanding the causes of stammering to ensure we provide the correct help to deal with it.”