Phil Schneider's documentary 'Transcending Stuttering' follows the journey of seven people who stammer. David Vitler reports on a screening in August 2007, followed by discussion with Dr Schneider.

The meeting at City Lit in London began with a showing of Phil's documentary "Transcending Stuttering - the Inside Story". The film is fascinating because it tracks the stories of several individuals over many years, so that we see remarkable changes, together with very different ways of dealing with stammering. It's fascinating too, because of some high-profile individuals among the group - notably Taro Alexander, the founder of the Our Time Theatre Company in New York, and martial arts champion turned leading conservationist Alan Rabinowitz.

Afterwards, Phil described how he had been inspired to work with stammering through encountering the bravery of people who stammered. One of his first clients was a man with a severe stammer who rejected speech therapy but nevertheless refused to let his stammer hold him back in life. He became, in effect, Phil's first teacher. Another early client was a man who felt he had allowed stammering to completely dominate his life but at the age of 62 decided, through speech therapy, to make the changes he wanted - which in turn led to him switching career to become a motivational speaker.

During the informal discussion that followed, Phil asked everyone to give particular attention to the art of listening to others, which he described as the ultimate gift we can give - that of giving another person our full time and attention.

Responding to some of the points raised, Phil said that there is still no complete understanding about the cause of stammering. Nobody knows why some people outgrow it and others don't. So rather than 'why?' the question becomes 'what can we do about it?' The current situation is that different approaches help different people, and the things that help may change over the course of your lifetime.

He went on to describe how baffling stammering is, both for those living with it and those trying to treat it. The problem is its variability. In cerebral palsy, for example, where speech is affected, the problem is consistent for each individual - it occurs all the time and always in the same way. By contrast, stammering varies according to how tired the person is, their emotional state, whether they're alone or in company, etc. A stammer therefore often surprises the non-stammerer - and surprise is the basis of comedy. Stammering can in some ways be compared with asthma, which is also very variable. Breathing lessons don't help the asthmatic and there is nothing wrong with them physiologically. They have an allergic reaction which is sometimes triggered and sometimes not, making treatment very difficult to devise.

For all these reasons, Phil said he regards stammering not just as a speech problem but as a speech-communication problem. Communication is at the heart of human intimacy, and so the implications of any disruption are huge. As just one example, communicating with someone who stammers can create tension in the listener, as well as the stammerer, because we unconsciously imitate the breathing patterns of people who we're talking to. This is why it can be so difficult for parents to listen to a child who stammers.

Phil concluded by saying how impressed he had been by the treatment he had seen offered at the Michael Palin Centre and at City Lit. He reiterated how important he feels it is to acknowledge the bravery of people who work either to come to terms with a stammer or to improve their fluency. Phil is clearly a person of deep spiritual faith and I found myself very touched by his immense respect for the individual and for the individual journey of each person affected by stammering.

You can see a two minute trailer of the film online at the NSA website, or the full DVD is available in the BSA library.

From the Winter 2007 edition of Speaking Out, page 18