Although stuttering is a relatively common disorder, affecting over one percent of the Irish population, Kate White, a first year nursing student, says that common knowledge of it is actually quite limited.
“When I came to college, I found that a lot of people didn’t actually know what I was doing when I was stammering, and I was quite surprised.” Stammering is a neurological problem with getting words from brain to mouth. According to the Mayo Clinic, it is “a speech disorder that involves frequent and significant problems with the normal fluency and flow of speech. People who stutter know what they want to say, but have difficulty saying it.”
Katie was nervous coming to college, as the prospect of having to introduce herself constantly was daunting. Surprisingly, something Katie and many others struggle with, is saying her own name. “How many times at the beginning of college do you say “Hello, my name is Katie?” You can’t change or vary your own name, and so you have to get it right every time, which increases the pressure to say it correctly, which therefore increases the likelihood of stuttering.
Often, people don’t know how to react when somebody is stammering. When you know somebody well, and can tell what they are trying to say, a person with a stammer will not take offence if you simply say the word for them. But, if Katie is speaking to a lecturer, or somebody she is not friends with as such, she would prefer is they waited for her to say the word herself.
In order to have a conversation, people with a stammer practice what they are going to say over and over, in the hope that they will not stutter over what they want to say, explains Katie. As a result, their brains are constantly working, which is exhausting. When ordering food at a restaurant, for example, Katie will frequently tell her friend to order for her, rather than go through the process of doing it herself. The pressure of getting the order right, and possibly stuttering over it all, as well as the fear that the waiter’s patience may wear thin, can be avoided by having somebody else do it for her. She also fears her friends becoming impatient, “My friends used to be embarrassed for me, because I was holding things up. That’s why people try to say the words for you, which isn’t always a nice thing.”
Due to a lack of awareness around the disorder, people tend to react badly when they hear stammering. However, a very patient Katie, and others like her, says you cannot get annoyed, because people simply don’t understand what is happening. Of course, they feel guilty when they discover Katie hasn’t just been speaking too quickly, or forgotten what she was saying. Even some of her now best friends laughed when they first heard it, as well as some qualified nurses in the hospital where she recently completed work experience. Katie says she was worried that her stammer might affect her aspirations of becoming a nurse, as in an emergency situation, she needs to be able to dictate quickly and efficiently. But having been told she was the best first year trainee nurse in the hospital, this has not been an issue.
Katie did look for supports when she came to college, but soon discovered there was little available for those with a stammer. “There isn’t a specific help support for people with stammers, we’re just integrated with the supports for general disabilities. Obviously, those with a stammer need less support than those with a physical disability, we just need more psychological support.” You do have to reach out and find the help yourself, which can be very difficult, as many who have a stammer are withdrawn and shy, and self- conscious about their stammer, says Katie. Lucky for her, her outgoing and friendly personality over-rides that, and she was able to seek guidance. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much to offer but a simple chat.
Katie doesn’t know one other person in DCU with a stammer, but statistics say she cannot be the only one. She would like to see some sort of group where people with a stammer, and indeed those who do not, could meet and communicate about their experiences in college. “We should be connected rather than separated.”
Going forward, Katie would love to educate other students on stuttering. It is something that she is passionate about, and would like to create awareness of the common disorder within DCU and beyond.
For those seeking support or information on Stammering, visit http://stammeringireland.ie/
Photo by Ravi Roshan