Course helping children to cope

Aug 6 2007 by Jane Picken, Evening Chronicle

Coping with a stammer can be tough for youngsters, but experts on Tyneside have found a fun way to give them tips and guidance. Health reporter JANE PICKEN has the details

CLUTCHING her brightly coloured and glitter-laden poster, little Josephine Hicks wants to teach her classmates about what it’s like having a stammer.

The eight-year-old made the poster as part of a week-long course held in Whitley Bay last month, which brought stammering youngsters aged eight to 15 together to teach them how to cope with their speech impediments.

“My poster shows the different types of stammering and I want to put it up at my school,” explained Josephine, a pupil at West Jesmond Primary.

“I’ve enjoyed playing the games on the course, especially the one where one person winks at another and that person pretends to die. We then all have to guess who has killed them because we’re not allowed to see who winked. It was a lot of fun.”

Games like this, played throughout the course, are designed to help children overcome their stammers and improve their communication skills.

Like Josephine, 11-year-old Callum Thompson, from Blyth, has picked up a number of techniques, such as slow talking.

“My dad used to stammer when he was younger and he told me to speak at the same speed I would read at, and this course has taught me some more ways to help it,” said football fan Callum.

“I hope I remember to do the techniques because they will help me when I go back to school. My stammer gets worse when I’m speaking in front of the class or in a group.

“Sometimes kids can be mean at school, when they pretend they have a stammer too, but my friends give me time to say things if I’m stammering.”

The groups are staffed by eight therapists and four assistant therapists and also aim to improve the youngsters’ confidence.

They are held every year, and all the children taking part have been referred by speech and language therapists in Northum-berland, North Tyneside and Newcastle.

During this year’s summer holidays, youngsters gathered at Whitley Bay High School for the course.

Everyday fun and lively activities look at different techniques to reduce stammering, such as story-telling games to teaching the youngsters how to slow down their speaking or stretching out their words – both proven ways of stopping a stammer.

“For children and teenagers who stammer, these courses can really help with building their confidence,” explained Northumberland and North Tyneside speech and language therapist Pat Brookes, who specialising in stammering.

“We help them find ways to reduce the amount of stammering, but working alongside other kids who have experienced the same thing as them is really good for them.

“The children tend to give each other advice and will talk about what has helped them in a certain situation - especially with things like teasing and bullying.

“But it can also be educational things which the children struggle with, such as reading out loud in class or oral English exams.”

Car-crazy 13-year-old, Jordan Hudspith struggles with his stammer when he’s nervous or excited, but last month’s course could make all the difference.

“The course has been good and I’ve met people who are just like me,” explained Jordan, a pupil at Coquet High School in Amble, Northumberland.

“One thing I’ve learned is called soft contact, where you start saying a word quietly and get louder. It really helps.

“My stammer will get worse at times. When I come home from school and I’m dying to tell my mum, it’s hard to get the words out.

“I asked my friends on the course what to do if I get stuck on a certain word and stammer on it. They told me to think of another word which means the same thing.”

Fellow course member Ben Ross, 10, from Westerhope, Newcastle, is hoping the techniques will help him in time for the new school term in September.

“My school friends are used to my stammer and they just give me time to say things,” explained Ben, who goes to Beach Hill School in Westerhope. “But doing things like stretching out the words when I say them will help.”

“It can be really hard for children who stammer,” added Pat, who has been running the courses for the past six years. “It’s isolating as they often feel they’re the only ones doing it and the chances are they are the only one in their school year.

“Other children are not always very understanding, which can make life difficult for them.

“There are some children who will grow out of stammering but for many it will continue into adulthood, so now is a good time to help these children find ways of coping with it.

“It’s important for these children to be able to make choices about what they want to do in their lives and not feel they can’t embark on a certain career or job because of their stammer.”

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How many does it affect?

How many people are affected by stammering?

Approximately 1% of the population stammer. Famous people with stammers include Marilyn Monroe, King George VI and singer Gareth Gates.

When does stammering start?

In children, non-fluent speech can occur when they start speaking up to the age of five or six. Sometimes it is difficult to differentiate normal non-fluent speaking from stammering.

There is a tendency for children to recover spontaneously, although the chances of this decrease as the child gets older.

Does stammering run in families?

There is quite a lot of evidence to suggest this is the case, but environmental factors also play a part.

What causes stammering?

No-one really knows. There are a number of theories, though, including psychological reasons as some form of neurosis or as a product of anxiety or neurological explanations.

How can stammering be reduced?

Speaking more slowly, changing pitch, whispering or speaking in monotone can help;

Speaking in unison with another person or group of people;

Reading (for some it can make stammering worse but with others it can help);

Saying something over and over;

Singing and using in-built rhythm;

Talking to yourself when alone;

Feeling relaxed.

What are the treatments for stammering?

Speech and language therapy can including counselling, personal contact psychology, modification techniques, relaxation, anxiety control, hypnotherapy and social skills training.

Some GPs prescribe tranquillisers for adults who stammer a lot.

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Who to contact

SPEECH and language therapy services:

• North Tyneside: Contact Pat Brookes on (0191) 219 6711

• Newcastle: Contact Lucy Paterson on (0191) 282 4325

• Northumberland: Contact Kath Fraser on (01670) 392 754.

For more general information, visit www.stammering.org