Following his article last autumn on being a student with a stammer, Ramesh Summan ventures into the world of work.

Last July, whilst I was volunteering at BSA, I had a phone call from an employment agency who had been helping me look for work after graduating from University. I knew that a major decision was expected. Within moments of taking the phone call I was on cloud nine as the decision was positive.

After a few days of pure joy and the odd party, my emotions changed to heightened nerves the day before I started the job, as I wondered how I was going to cope with its demands. I would have to do a great deal of communicating in a busy open plan finance office with new colleagues and clients, as well as adapting to life in a new city.

Looking back after nearly a year, I have adjusted well to the communication levels required. To do so I used some strategies which I talk about below. However, I personally feel that the most important thing was to have a belief in myself that even though I may stammer more in certain circumstances I could cope with any communication demands that I have or will face in the future. From my work experiences, I have felt it is always best not to think of a stammer as a limitation to one's communication, but to think that communication with clients and colleagues depends not on how fluent one is but how one communicates to make oneself understood. Thinking in this way reduces the pressures when communicating. So when talking to clients, I concentrate not on whether I am being fluent but on giving good customer service: being pleasant, patient, focussing on the client's needs.

The strategies which I used to adapt to the job started with disclosing at the outset to the employment agency, my manager and colleagues that I had a stammer. Yes I had some concern that disclosing my stammer might make me less likely to get the job. However, through disclosing it and having the correct skills and abilities to do the job I feel that these individuals supported me, knew what to expect, and were in the best position to provide me with any reasonable adjustments. Also it took pressure off me, as people would not be surprised when I stammered.

A key adjustment made because of my stammer was that on starting the job I was offered (and accepted) additional telephone support training. This was on the job, and involved me observing how my line manager and colleagues dealt with the various technical queries which could come in from my client, a charity for deaf people. I had over a month of this orientation to help get me used to the calls involved. Most new staff would start on the phone after a week or so. This period ensured that I was more comfortable speaking to clients over the phone, and more in my comfort zone even when under intense work pressure.

Occasionally, when dealing with clients who are hearing and/or speech impaired I have used the Typetalk service. This enables the hearing or speech impaired person to communicate through typing what they want to say into a textphone, or into a computer with suitable software installed. What one types is spoken to the other person by the Typetalk operator. The operator can also type back to the first person what the speaking person says.

As a person who stammers I would consider using the Typetalk service myself from home for more difficult phone calls, so I could type rather than talk. It can be quite slow though. For calls in the workplace, where the client is not hearing impaired I opt for the more immediate interaction of actually speaking to the client.

In conclusion I would say that as people who stammer we may not feel a job with a high level of communication is within our capabilities. However, through taking a positive stance and seeking help (reasonable adjustments) it can be possible to build careers in areas like these. The point to remember is that being able to communicate does not depend on how fluent one is when communicating but how one communicates to make oneself understood.

From the Summer 2008 issue of 'Speaking Out', page 14

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