Stammer School My Life

My name's Aidan and I'm 11 years old.

What it must be like is like

words coming up, they're in your mind, you're trying to form them.

And suddenly,

for some reason, there's a block.

My name is Oscar and I'm 13 years old.

That block, however it's created, is intensified by your tension.

My name is...

..Isa and I am 13 years old.

So it's about tension, it's about pressure.

My name's Tom and I'm 13 years old.

Having tons of things you want to say and just finding that the actual machine for speaking has dried up.

My name is Lili and I'm 10 years old.

It's like the batteries have gone.

You know, a sort of barrier has come down at the back of your throat.

My... My... My name is...

Is... Is Charlotte, and I am...

And I am... And I am...

And I am 14.

Around five per cent of British children will suffer

from a stammer at some stage in their lives.

That's nearly 200,000 stammerers right across the UK.

Nobody quite knows what causes this and many children will simply grow out of it.

But for some, their stammer can become a very real problem.

It's not a problem you can cure, but it is one you can learn to control.

And that's what's brought six young stammerers and their parents,

from all over the country, together in London.

After seeking help from their local speech therapist,

they've been specially selected to take part in a course that could change their lives.

Over the next two weeks, Aidan, Isa,

Oscar, Tom, Lili and Charlotte

will attend a very different type of school -

a stammer school at the Michael Palin Centre for Stammering Children.

Famous as a member of the legendary Monty Python comedy group and as a

globetrotting TV explorer, Michael Palin's link to the centre

is a very personal one.

My connection to stammering was through my father,

who had a very severe stammer.

And because it was felt there was no possible cure,

one didn't therefore delve into it.

I would feel highly embarrassed asking my father why he stammered.

We just lived with it.

And it was very difficult for him.

When I heard that there was a therapy which might have avoided this, I thought,

"How utterly different his life might have been if he had this kind of therapy."

Welcome to the first day of our group, our two weeks working together.

So all of you have been stammering already for quite a long time.

And what we've got is two weeks to help you with your speech.

The next two weeks on this intensive course aim to build the pupils' confidence and teach them new

fluency techniques, but ultimately it will be down to the hard work and

determination of the stammerers themselves that will decide how

much their speech improves, and whether they can take control of their stammers.

For ten-year-old Aidan, who's suffered from a stammer

since he was five, stammer school is a world away from his home in a quiet part of Scotland.

Aidan is learning to play the bass guitar,

and has his brothers Callum and Owen on hand to practise with.

It's good to play the bass because I don't have to speak and that makes it better.

So I have more confidence when I'm playing instead of speaking.

Aidan's stammer, I think it affects him quite a lot.

My shoulders and neck, like...

..tense up. And it's kind of like I can't breathe, a wee bit.

When Aidan stammers, I don't try to do much

because I feel quite bad correcting him about what he's saying.

I sometimes finish off his sentences,

but sometimes I think that's not the thing to do.

Initially, when it became very apparent that he had very obviously

a stammer, it was very stressful and distressing, upsetting.

Because if you imagine trying to play a game with your child,

trying to do homework with your child,

but you can't understand what your child is saying, necessarily.

But also you are aware of the fact that they have so much to say

and only a fraction that is actually coming out.

I've not met anybody...

..with a stammer like mine.

It feels kind of strange to kind of feel like

the only person with a stammer.

Back at the stammer school, the pupils get a chance

to spell out their hopes and dreams for the course.

To know more about what will help our speech get better.

All of this is a leap into the unknown for the group,

and the challenge of the next two weeks is really starting to sink in.

One pupil who's feeling particularly nervous

is 14-year-old Charlotte, who lives with her mum and dad in Stafford.

I am the...

the...the

only one in...school with a...

a stammer. And I do.. And I do... And I do... And I do...

I do feel the...the...

the odd one... The odd one out, like.

Charlotte used to have problems in answering her name in the register

in the morning. And the teachers

used to stand and wait for five minutes,

waiting for her to answer, which was totally humiliating.

So we had a pink card made, which Charlotte

hands to every new teacher. It says,

"I have a stammer, please do not ask me direct questions."

And I have been...

..bullied at school.

And it does... And it does... It does...

It does make...

..me sad and angry.

How confident do you feel at the moment, Charls?

A bit scared and nervous.

-Most of the time?

-Yeah.

Everything she thinks about doing,

her stammer just comes in the way of it because

it makes her scared to do anything.

It totally affects her whole life. I think it controls her life.

It's time for a bit of soul searching at stammer school, as the

group are given a real challenge - draw your own stammer.

It's very difficult to explain a stammer in words,

so using pictures may give our pupils their

first opportunity to express what their stammers really feel like.

One of the things that we had to do today was to draw our stammer.

It showed a picture of me... punching someone.

But that is kind of what I want to do

when somebody looks at me strangely.

Well, that's me talking, and I'm OK then.

And then when I start stammering I sort of fall down the cliff,

and then as I walk up the steps it sort of gets better.

I did draw my...

..my stammer

as a...brick wall.

Because it is hard to get

things out.

And I do...

I do...

I do feel

like hitting a wall sometimes.

A big city like London can be a nerve-wracking prospect, especially

for someone like ten-year-old Lili, who's used to a very peaceful life with her family in West Wales.

I live on a farm and it's got thousands of trees around it,

and it's about 200 acres.

And I love it because it's very peaceful. And it's, like,

no strangers will come along. And that's a happy thing.

I find it quite upsetting when I stammer in front of people,

especially with people that tease me.

Cos some people say to me, "Why do you do that?"

And some of them just go,

"Is it a disability or is it contagious?"

And I'm like, "No."

It's not going to be that long until Lili starts secondary school,

and for that reason, I'm concerned about the effect

of what older children may feel towards Lily,

because they don't totally understand her situation.

And for that reason, I'm worried that she'll be bullied.

Having been brave enough to draw their stammer, the pupils now have

a breakthrough opportunity to open up and talk about how they speak.

And if they can understand their stammer, they can fight it.

Sometimes you're afraid to say what you want to say.

And it's very hard because you're afraid that you're going to stammer.

-Tom.

-If you're in a discussion, people, like,

they think you're finished and they just go on to the next person.

OK. Charlotte.

You do...

..talk...quietly.

So Charlotte has probably been the quietest member of the group today.

She has participated in group discussions, but she's generally found that quite hard.

And I get the impression that she's very used to opting out of talking.

Isa, anything else about what happens when people stammer?

You, like, get...

..blocked. And the sound gets, like...

..blocked.

13-year-old Isa, in particular, has much to gain from the course.

Home isn't so far away for Isa, as his dad runs a cafe in South London.

On weekends, he likes to lend a hand.

I volunteer...

..on Saturdays and Sundays.

Cos it's, like...

fun and it helps my dad as well.

Why is it fun for you?

Because I can, like...

talk to the customers and everything else.

Cos I'm from Japan and my husband's from Turkey,

so Isa speaks three languages.

He stammers equally in each language.

I have only one son and I want him to have better future.

You will pass all those bridges without any problems.

I'm sure you can do, Isa. If you are my son, you can do.

As we reach the end of the first week, the pupils are

working hard on a fluency technique that slows their speech

right down and helps them take control.

They have to listen and read along to speech therapist Kevin

as he very slowly recites a story about Tarzan.

This gradually allows each stammerer

to dismantle their speech and almost learn to talk again from scratch.

Tar-zan was run-ning.

We have to do it a very slow

way, like...this.

And we have to keep it the same

sound,

the same rhythm of sound, even if it gets exciting.

It was a...huge gorilla.

How do you think you got on with the pausing this time?

-Better.

-Yeah.

-It wasn't quite so exaggerated.

-No.

Without any sign...

of panic.

The Tarzan assignment requires a lot of concentration

but the pupils' next task is an even trickier one -

to teach a therapist how to stammer like they do.

Isa, tell me about your stammer.

I sometimes get, like,...

completely...

blocked

around, like, my throat.

And, like, the...words get stuck.

If Isa can understand his stammer enough to teach Ali the therapist

how to do it, then he may be able to take control of it himself.

When I say, like,

a word, like,

"w", it gets... blocked around my lips.

OK, so maybe we should have a word beginning with "w" in the sentence.

What happens to your face?

It gets tense, like...

Like that? And your eyes?

-They shut a bit.

-OK. So how...

would you feel if you

s...stammered?

I think Ali did....

pretty well copying my stammer because

it was...

just l...like...

mine.

Helping the children with their speech is a big part of the course

but equally important is allowing the pupils to get to know each other.

Building their confidence and showing them

that there's no need to feel isolated with a stammer.

We're all... get...

getting on quite well.

For most of the children, this is the first time

they've been able to make friends with other stammerers

and that feeling of safety can be a big leap forward

in dealing with their speech.

We usually spend lunch...

at the park and there's a...

playground next to the park.

It's really nice to see Isa playing with other kids.

He's settled very nicely

and I wasn't expecting Isa to be friends with other kids so quickly.

So by the end of the first week,

there's a real sense of the group coming together as friends.

However one of the pupils was absent from the park - Charlotte.

It's been a nervous first week for the 14-year-old

so she's trying to relax over the weekend with a bit of sightseeing.

It's the first time we've come as a family to London.

We were all a little bit nervous.

We seem to have calmed down a bit now.

I did

go on the...

the, the, the

London Eye.

My high bit was the...

view and it was

c... wicked.

This is a good opportunity for Charlotte to reflect on the course

so far but with just one week left, she still has a very long way to go.

As the course reaches its second week,

the stammer school is joined by a surprise visitor.

Good morning. Welcome. We have a special guest today.

Hello everyone. Hi.

-Hello there.

-Hi. How are you?

Michael. Nice to see you.

This morning,

Michael P...

Palin

came in

and it...was really surprising because he's all famous and stuff.

He saw us when he just came in that we were doing the praise presents

and mine was to Charlotte.

Dear Charlotte.

I think you...

are a lovely...

a lovely girl

and you're such a good friend.

I loved seeing their personalities come out.

I loved feeling that within that group,

they feel they can say things to each other.

Dear...Isa.

You are...really fun.

We have had...

..lots of fun in the park. From Tom.

It was quite cool that a famous person

wanted to come and see us because normally it's

us that would want to go and see a famous person like Michael Palin.

-Do you live in London?

-No.

You have to come and stay then? Sorry!

Go away! We're talking!

With two days to go, our pupils are facing their biggest challenge yet.

To most children, buying a bite to eat from a market stall

might seem simple

but to our stammerers, it can be their worst nightmare.

Tackling this head on,

the group have been sent outside to the nearby Exmouth Market to

test out their fluency on complete strangers and rate how they get on.

-Can I get a...sam...samosa?

-Yeah.

-Sure.

-How...How much does it cost?

-That's £1, please.

-I just had to ask for some food from...

..an Indian food stall.

My confidence was quite high

already so it wasn't that bad but I...

wasn't as focused

as I hoped to be.

Can I get a s...

samosa, please?

Yeah, sure.

-How much is that?

-That's a pound please.

Thank you. I...was...

..slightly...

nervous but

it was all right, yeah.

-What is this?

-Chocolate brownies.

-And this?

-This is called a chocolate puzzle cake.

OK. Can we please have one of those?

-A brownie?

-Yes, please.

I rated myself, my confidence was about,

eight, seven out of ten and I think I was really confident there.

That's £2 please.

I did... feel... quite...

scared at...

first.

How much is... a chocolate brownie?

It is £2.

I do... feel

really proud of myself because I...

couldn't have...

done... that...

before.

It's not just the pupils who are learning some valuable lessons.

I've been made to realise that I do too much for Charlotte.

I talk for her, I do everything for her.

It's going to be a matter of being cruel to be kind,

that Charlotte is going to have to start talking more.

I'm going to encourage her to talk to different people,

ask for things herself.

It's a matter of me being as brave as Charlotte.

As the course draws to a close, the group faces their most difficult

challenge and something that some stammerers never master -

speaking in front of an audience.

What we're going to do is a speaking circle

and you're going to be taking it in turns to come up to the front.

Then what we will ask you to do is to talk for about 30 seconds.

You can talk about whatever you like.

Two weeks ago, none of the group would have dared to try

something as daunting as this.

The children had to get up and do a little bit of talking for 30 seconds

about any subject they wanted to.

I really thought Charlotte wouldn't get up and do it.

You're going to sit, OK.

I was anxious that she was going to struggle

to say what she wanted to say.

-You start when you're ready.

-I am...

really glad...

that I came on the...on the course.

Because it has...

has helped a lot with

my...with...

my stammer

and my...

my...confidence.

APPLAUSE

For her to sit there in front of people

and just talk fluently how she did,

I just felt really emotional and I thought, how brave she was to do it.

So it's graduation day for Stammer School

and that means a lot of very grateful families.

If children can leave here with there stammerer reduced,

their fluency and confidence restored,

it is the most extraordinary, wonderful feeling,

one of the best feelings you could possibly have.

My confidence has improved so much.

I actually can't...believe it.

I think the last two weeks, for Lily,

has absolutely changed her life.

Her fluency and speech has dramatically changed,

not just a little bit, but she's a different girl.

And for Aidan - he no longer feels like the only child

in the world with a stammer.

It's quite sad, leaving...leaving the course

and stuff behind and our friends.

He did say to me very early on in the course,

I feel less lonely, Mummy.

I was almost ready to go home at that point.

I think I will...

keep in touch a lot.

It seems his life is changing,

he is getting more sure and more responsible

and his speech is even getting better.

I think that...

Charlotte has had the biggest...

impact...

on her confidence and her stammer.

On the first day, I couldn't understand what she said but

now, she is speaking full sentences with me and I'm like, wow!

Going back home, I...

think I will be...

be..

be more confident talking

and I will...

be smiling more,

I think.

It's such a basic thing,

being able to talk and express what you have in your mind.

The fact that some of these children don't have that when they come here,

and yet, when they leave, they feel they can say what

they want to say - it's freeing them up, it's loosening the bonds,

it's a great thing to be able to do.

My name's Lily and I'm 10 years old.

My name's Tom and I'm 13 years old.

My name's Aiden...

and I'm 11... years old.

My name is Oscar and I'm 13 years old.

My name is Isa and I'm 13 years old.

My name is Charlotte

and I am 14 years old.

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