A Chance to Speak
Helping a pupil who stammers - a practical guide for teachers

The video | Introduction | What is stammering? | Detecting a hidden stammer | Try/Avoid | Talking in school| Oral examinations | Careers advice | Teasing and bullying | Teacher attitudes | Further help and advice | Further reading

The following is the text of the booklet which accompanies the BSA's video for teachers "A Chance to Speak". The video pack including the booklet is available from the BSA shop or library.

A chance to speak - the video

The video, "A Chance to Speak", is designed to be viewed in conjunction with this booklet. Try and watch it with your colleagues and leave time for a discussion afterwards when you could distribute copies of the booklet.

The video tells the story of Matthew Hammond, who is in his first term at secondary school and has a bad stammer. Matthew would do anything to conceal it by avoiding speaking.

In the opening scene we find Matthew in the security of his home, talking fluently to his pet hamster Dodger. He tells Dodger how much he is dreading the day ahead because he has to speak for two minutes on a chosen subject in his English teacher's class.

The video follows Matthew through his school day, singling out moments that typically induce tension and therefore heighten his stammering, including answering the register, being buttonholed unexpectedly and, finally, struggling in his biggest ordeal of the day, his two minute talk.

His teacher, Miss Johnstone, makes a well-meaning attempt to help him which only results in getting him more flustered and making his stammer worse. Eventually, she moves on to the next member of the class in despair, leaving Matthew dejected.

Later, Miss Johnstone finds Matthew being bullied in the playground. Fortunately, she knows a speech and language therapist to call on who gives her helpful advice.

The next day, she calls Matthew in for a private chat. After agreeing a strategy to help alleviate his distress, she sends him away cheered to find there is someone at school on his side, willing to treat him with understanding.

Introduction

"During your career, how many pupils will you meet who stammer. 10? 20? Or will it be as many as 50? Chances are, it'll be more than you think. With many you won't even realise there's a problem. Not because they don't have much of a stammer but because they don't dare speak. Four out of five will be boys. Most will never 'grow out of it?. You might think it's all in their minds. In a way it is. They've got it all up there. In Britain to-day, one in 80 children of school age has a stammer. Now's your chance to set them free."

The British Stammering Association (BSA) video: "A Chance to Speak" offers an introductory glimpse at the problems that beset a pupil with a stammer. It shows how easy it is for you to adapt your approach to such a pupil and give them the best chance of surmounting their dysfluency. As the video says: it's a lot to do with building their confidence.

This booklet provides a practical guide to the steps to take. Many of the suggestions aimed at helping the dysfluent child will have benefits for the whole class, particularly amongst under-confident, nervous pupils.

To-day, a career in teaching is a big challenge. And the new emphasis on oral skills in the National Curriculum poses a particular problem when you have to cope with a pupil with a stammer.

But you still have an opportunity to make a difference in his or her formative years. The benefits of your work will be felt by all of us and you might even find yourself teaching the next Rowan Atkinson... Marilyn Munroe... or Winston Churchill, or even an Isaac Newton.

It's not that teaching is focused on producing only people who go on to produce great works - far from it - but did you know that all these individuals had a stammer at one time or another?

Stammering is no trivial complaint. For those insufficiently equipped to cope, the consequences can be tragic and even lead to suicide

Stammering doesn't affect any particular social group. It doesn't strike only at the exceptionally gifted or the acedemically challenged. There is no guaranteed cure. But the role you play as a teacher of a pupil with a stammer can make all the difference.

What is stammering?

Stammering, sometimes termed stuttering, has been described as "speech which is hesitant, stumbling, tense or jerky to the extent that it causes anxiety to the speaker and/or listener.? It involves a combination of overt behaviour and hidden feelings.

Signs in speech may include:
prolongation of sounds - "sssssseven"
blocks - getting completely stuck so that no sound, or a strangled sound only, emerges
repetitions of sounds or parts of words - "mi- mi-mi-miss"
fillers - "er,er", "like", "you know", "I mean"
playing for time - "what?" "uh?"

Behaviour may include:
signs of physical tension
blinking hard
grimacing
avoiding eye contact
avoiding talking
coughing, gulping or swallowing
reticence, nervousness
disruption
foot tapping
blushing

Few realise the emotional impact of stammering. The fear and anxiety pupils feel can be relative. One may struggle in acute difficulty but seem confident. Another may feel extremely threatened by a relatively minor problem.

Myths about stammering are unhelpful.

It is not caused by a blow to the head, laziness or stupidity. There is nothing different physically or psychologically about people with a stammer.

There is no ready, wholesale cure for it, although it is often alleviated by placing someone in a sufficiently sympathetic environment.

There is no typical pupil with a stammer.

Bear in mind that stammering affects each pupil in different ways with varying degrees of severity. A pupil's fluency can vary from month to month, day to day, or even hour to hour. Be prepared to be sensitive to their changing needs. It does not mean they can talk properly if they want to.

It is sometimes episodic in nature and it would be unwise to lead a child to believe it has gone away for good since this will only mean disappointment if it returns.

Growing out of stammering is unlikely but the prognosis is particularly good if the stammer is found and professionally treated before the child is of school age.

Bilingual pupils face particular problems. Although bilingualism does not cause stammering it can contribute to fluency problems.

Parents behaviour does not cause dysfluency but inappropriate behaviour by them or others can re-inforce it.

Detecting a hidden stammer

Stammering amongst pupils is frequently hard to detect, not just because of a stereotypical view of what constitutes stammering but also because of the lengths some pupils go to, because of fear and embarrassment, to hide their stammer.

The child may be unduly reticent, avoid situations or be disruptive.

look for signs in their speech of the characteristics given in this booklet
review the pupils in your charge who present as "quiet", "shy", "aloof" or "not having much to say for themselves"
consider whether the disruptive behaviour of some pupils could be the result of dysfluency
compare written and oral performance for marked discrepancies in attainment levels
be alert to the child who is withdrawn and fails to mix or socialise with their peer group
ask yourself if the long-winded speaker might have a stammer - do their pauses, hesitations and re-phrasings really indicate skilful avoidance.

Try:
Finding out what the pupil wants by talking to them privately and also...
getting advance notice, if possible, of a pupil who stammers before he or she attends your class
showing you are listening to what a pupil is saying by keeping natural eye contact and not displaying embarrassment
concentrating on what is being said not how it is spoken
speaking to the parents with the pupil present
contacting the pupil?s speech and language therapist

Avoid:
Any approach that singles out the child who stammers and also...
firing too many questions, too quickly
hurrying them along or asking them to slow down
finishing their sentences or telling them to start again
repeating the pupil's words
imposing time pressure
interrupting
adopting sarcasm
making light of the situation

Talking in schooll

Key to your success with every dysfluent pupil in your care is to talk to him or her in private about their speech. You might consider involving the whole class but only with the pupil's full consent and in the context of other problems children face.

Confidence
create a relaxed environment in class to give the pupil a safe place to practise speaking in and help build their self-esteem
explore ways for a pupil to demonstrate their full potential. Many dysfluent children feel very frustrated that their speech hampers them
consider where a pupil sits in class, encourage proximity to friends and distance from bullies
make it a key objective to increase the child's sense of self worth by encouragement, giving them useful tasks and praising past efforts, signalling to the pupil that their contributions are worthwhile
demonstrate, by commenting on the importance of what they have said, that you value them for what they say, not how they say it

Participation
check avoidance behaviour by encouraging pupils to join in all activities but always provide an opt-out for a child who really cannot cope with speaking in class
do not rule out a child's possible interest in participating in drama, singing or morning assembly activities. Performance can lift someone out of themselves and alleviate their stammer - notably, some of the world's most celebrated actors, singers and public speakers have a stammer which leaves them when they don't have to be themselves

Speaking situations
discuss a strategy for reading aloud with the pupil
give the pupil time to answer the register or questions asked of them
try taking names out of sequence and call the pupil's name early when taking the register
build the confidence of willing readers by gradually increasing the frequency of occasions they are called to read aloud
for those with good and bad days, reserve the option for them to read aloud on their better days
reserve reading to you on a one-to-one basis for severe cases
when appropriate, encourage the pupil to choose a more fluent friend to speak with them in unison
if the pupil consents and is receiving therapy, encourage them to gain confidence at speaking to small groups, starting with twos, then building up, as they progress, to the whole class

Oral examinations

The key is to allow extra time for dysfluency in proportion to the pupil's difficulty.

in severe cases, review the option provided by the examining board to exempt a pupil with colleagues and the examiner
ensure that examiners are briefed on the nature of the pupil's dysfluency. Examination centres are obliged under Department for Education and Employment (DFEE) guidelines to cater for children with special needs. Guidelines relating to stammering are designed to remove the effects of dysfluency from consideration without giving the examinee an unfair advantage. The recommended approach is reflected in the Joint Council for the GCSE, Standing Agreement No. 4.

Careers advice

keep an open mind - any career is possible for a person with a stammer, given the appropriate skills and qualifications
consult speech and language therapists to see if they can assist with interview technique

John is eight and has a bubbly personality and a disarming smile. He also has a repetitive stammer within very fast and often unintelligible speech. However, while his teacher will find his fidgety, distractable, interrupting and attention seeking behaviour disruptive, he or she may not identify him as a child who stammers.

While there is always a reason why he doesn't take his turn at reading out aloud in class, he always seems to be in trouble for whispering when someone else is.

Oscar-winning performances for losing the place, dropping the book or having a coughing fit are invented to so exasperate the teacher that he or she asks him to sit down again.

John tends not to listen and interrupts constantly by shooting his hand in the air and making unrelated personal remarks. Turn-making and eye contact are also poor.

John sees his role as "class clown" and enjoys making the other children laugh. He is rewarded by what he sees as admiration from the other children but finds they distance themselves from him. The alternative for him would be an intolerable exposure of stammering.

If forced into stammering publicly, John first becomes shy and unresponsive, then aggressive, saying he will beat them up if anyone says anything

John, 12, SE London

Teasing and bullying

Teasing and bullying is a social problem. It can have a devasting affect on the progress of a dysfluent child. Always avoid singling out a child with a stammer by treating bullying as a wider issue.
examine the problem in private with the child and develop a strategy with him or her, and their speech and language therapist if they have one, to help them to be less vulnerable to taunts and more assertive
aim, as with other aspects of assisting pupils, to create a learning environment that is safe from the damage teasing and bullying can inflict
consider assertiveness training if this would help
counsel the child to adopt behaviour that starves a bully of the motivation for their attacks - this might include ignoring the attacks themselves, laughing them off or responding with humour not rudeness
raise awareness of handicaps in general to reduce the groundswell of support for the bully, perhaps by spending 15-20 minutes talking with the whole class and even making them stammer voluntarily to allow them to feel what it is like
encourage the child to keep the company of supportive friends, especially during bad patches
seek the advice of a speech and language therapist who is likely to have constructive advice which will assist you

From the outset at secondary school, I was targeted for bullying. Each day I would brace myself in preparation for the verbal and physical taunting that was inexorable. Every class was an ordeal; especially where teacher control was limited. On reflection I am surprised that so much giggling, teasing and physical abuse was permitted. I can only surmise that amongst the general hubbub the teacher didn't notice.

Not only did my concentration suffer but the effect on my self esteem and confidence was devastating. I became very introverted and consequently had few friends.

Each day culminated in the ordeal of the journey home. With no teacher control on the bus, I was threatened with violence, spat at and, on one occasion, had chewing gum rubbed into my hair.

The school did intervene to punish the culprits sometimes, however this seemed to make matters worse and incite more bullying. The bullies would seek revenge and, being poorly equipped to retaliate, I would become the victim once more.

Susan, 38, Surrey

Further advice on bullying is given in the "Bullying Pack" published by the BSA.

Teacher attitudes

Look beyond the stammer. Misconceptions about stammering may lead teachers to misjudge a child's ability and affect his or her expectations and attainment levels.
circulate information about a pupil's dysfluency as soon as possible to all colleagues involved
encourage the pupil to view you as someone who will help them face the challenges presented by their speech
review the school's evaluation system to see if it is unfairly biased in favour of verbal communication skills-particularly with reference to the National Curriculum - and draw this to your colleagues attention if it is
encourage colleagues to avoid pretending that they understand how a child with a stammer feels
persuade colleagues to be open about stammering in their discussions with the child and avoid a "conspiracy of silence"
point out that a well meant decision not to involve a pupil with a stammer might actually be unhelpful to that child
counter insensitivity, both amongst academic and non-academic staff, with knowledge and understanding
encourage a sensitive response to stammering that avoids singling the pupil out in a way that penalises them or turns them into a "special case2
alert colleagues to the covert behaviour patterns - unwilling class participation and disruptive behaviiour - adopted by a significant proportion of pupils with a stammer which greatly reduce the chances of dedection

...and finally, remember the most effective way to help pupils who stammer: consult them

FURTHER HELP AND ADVICE

If you need help or advice, contact your local speech and language therapist. Details of who to contact may be found on the box on the back cover of this booklet. Failing this, you can usually make contact through your school's doctor or health visitor or you may be able to contact the clinic directly or via the local health department office.

Alternatively, contact the British Stammering Association, who hold directories of specialist speech and language therapy provision. The BSA offer trained advice, helplines and literature on stammering and also have a lending library for members.

You can also obtain information from your Local Education Authority (LEA) and from the Joint Council for the GCSE, Devas Street, Manchester, M15 6EX Tel: O161 953 7557 Fax: O161 953 7588.

FURTHER READING

"Let's talk about Stammering" (children and adults) by Renee Byrne (Review)
2 Joint Council for the GCSE, Standing Agreement No.4, GCSE Examinations: Special Arrangements and Special Considerations, available on application in writing to the Joint Council, Devas Street, Manchester, M15 6EX Tel: O161 953 7557 Fax: O161 953 7588
3 The code of Practice of the Identification and Assessment of special Educational Needs, Department for Education and Employment, 1994
4 "Bullying and the Dysfluent Child in Primary School" a pack to help teachers with a dysfluent child in their class; and speech and language therapists working with small groups of dysfluent children, prepared by Sheffield University Department of Psychology, published by the BSA (see in shop)
5 "Bullying: don't suffer in silence", ISBN 0 11 270879, Department for Education and Emploument , 1994, available from HMSO bookshops
6 "Helping Children Cope with Stammering", by Jackie Turnbull and Trudy Stewart, Sheldon Press (Review)

Note: BSA has now created a CD-Roms for teachers and other staff.