Karen Allen, a specialist speech and language therapist who works for BSA, has started a stammering and spirituality discussion group which held its first meeting in November 2004.

"Well, it sounds nuts to me, but you never know, it could be true?!" was the good-natured parting comment of one of the first members to leave our discussion group. He was referring to a conversation he had had earlier with one or two of the group members who were involved with Reiki (a Japanese form of energy healing) as well as some of the other wide range of personal beliefs and spiritual journeys which had been shared during our time together.

The fact that the same person had offered to host the next meeting and make it a weekend was a wonderful testament to him enjoying the discussions and believing that stammering and spirituality were worth exploring further. After all, we're talking about rather mysterious and controversial subjects here, which probably raise more questions than answers and certainly many different and paradoxical answers at that. I'm referring of course to the mystery of life and the mystery of stammering.

For some unknown but nevertheless inspiring reason, I hold the belief that stammering could be one of the keys to unlocking the meaning and mystery of life. I am hoping the group I have started will help us find that key and also in our journey together we can encourage and support those who are affected by stammering along the way. I am not promising all the answers, but I do feel that stammering is part of the bigger picture of us being spiritual beings having a human experience rather than human beings having a spiritual experience.

As we know, a major component of stammering is fear. Fear about what others will think of us, say to us and/or do to us. Fear of feeling foolish, embarrassed, different or simply failing to get our message across or not being accepted and understood. "Love is the opposite of fear," declared Mary Woods, keynote speaker and former chairperson of the Canadian Association for People who stammer at the BSA conference in Sheffield in 2000. I did not understand it when I wrote it down in my notebook then (I thought it was "hate" actually and interestingly another word often used about stammering). I am beginning to understand now, however, and it really does make a difference to how I view my life.

So, why not join our discussion group or share your thoughts and ideas with us in some other way? We're warm, friendly, open-minded, have a variety of spiritual beliefs, both religious and non-religious, and stammering and fluency are part of our lives.

Karen E Allen
Speech and Language Therapist
mobile: 07740 863 528

 © 2005 Karen Allen

From the Spring 2005 edition of Speaking Out

See also: Stammering - my spiritual point of view by Rachel Albert.