Inaccessible is more than inconvenient
“perhaps we can expand our concept of what is normal and apply less judgement in situations where someone communicates differently to others, as for people who stammer, it’s just how we talk.”
Frances, STAMMA
Frances volunteers for the STAMMA Employment Service, which supports organisations and individuals who have issues relating to stammering. Find out more about STAMMA’s Employment Support Service For Stammering.
About Our Blog Series
Welcome to the sixth in our monthly series of blogs looking at the support that would enable people with accessibility needs to use everyday services with as little disruption to their lives as others do (or at least, as little disruption as possible).
Each entry in this series has been written by someone with lived experience of a particular support need. This month we hear from Frances about the ways in which organizations and individuals can jump to conclusions based on people’s atypical communication styles, such as stammering.
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With that, here is our sixth post, from Frances.
“We Don’t All Communicate in Conventional Ways”
Stammering has been a huge part of my life. My Dad has a very pronounced stammer, which often affects his ability to do everyday things, like talk on the telephone, order a coffee or buy a train ticket. I stammered more when I was younger and regularly went to speech therapy, however this never made me feel ‘abnormal’ or that there was something wrong with me, stammering was so familiar to me at home, I quickly accepted that this was also the way that I spoke sometimes too, just like my Dad.
My first experience of being judged for the way that I communicated was in primary school. This was back in the early nineties where it was very common for schools to have mobile teaching units within school grounds. These mobile units were assigned to teach either the ‘naughty kids’ or pupils who had special educational needs and disabilities.
When I started primary school, I have a core memory of being marched out of the classroom into one of these mobile units. I stammered so that automatically reflected my academic ability.
I was taught in the mobile unit for a few days before I went back into the classroom, reflecting on this in conversation with my parents recently, my Mum told me that she had had a conversation with the Headteacher, where she gently encouraged them to understand that how I spoke had no relevance to my ability.
Another experience at primary school, which was far more positive and also a defining moment for me with regards to my speech, was our whole-school play. I was the narrator… “Many years ago in the land of Troy…” I still have the script in the loft somewhere. I learnt that I could speak well in front of a crowd, and that if I did get stuck, that it would be okay, and I would be okay.
As I’ve got older however, sometimes when I stammer I don’t feel okay, and it is very often the reaction from the person or people I’m communicating with that make me feel that way.
Unfortunately, the perception of people who stammer is fuelled by film, television and media. Characters who stammer often play the fool, the victim, they are characters to be ridiculed and laughed at, I don’t think I can ever recall seeing a hero or heroine with a stammer, or a main character who is very smart and confident.
These are just some of the preconceived judgements people who stammer are battling against, before they even open their mouth.
Throughout the years, I grew to realise that the way people react to me, or my Dad, when we stammer is always more ‘their stuff’ than ours. Often it’s embarrassment, either they are embarrassed themselves as they they’re not sure what they should do in the situation, or that they are embarrassed on our behalf, which for me, is always far worse.
It can be a simple lack of understanding, as we rarely talk about stammering or disfluency in everyday life, in education or workplace settings for example. Indeed, when we do our equality, diversity and inclusion training for HR, it often mentions disabilities, but more physical disabilities such as being deaf or needing to use a wheelchair.
Reasonable adjustments may be mentioned for such disabilities, but in over 17 years working in retail, we were never once told how to approach a conversation with a customer who might stammer or have difficulty communicating.
Sadly, there has been, and will always be, those nasty people who genuinely think it’s funny when someone stammers or who struggles to conventionally communicate. I’m very lucky to have had little exposure to this, but I have seen the impact of this behaviour on others and it can be destructive. Hopefully the more that we do in our schools and our workplaces to educate people on disfluency will contribute towards greater understanding and empathy towards people who just talk differently.
With reference to my last point, judging people on how they communicate doesn’t just apply to people who stammer. We don’t all communicate in conventional ways. Let’s consider those who are neurodivergent, maybe have a health condition or have had an accident that has affected the way they can communicate.
From my experience there can be an intolerance or impatience towards people who don’t fit nicely into social norms, those with perceived irregularities can make others feel awkward and uncomfortable, eliciting reactions influenced by misunderstanding leading to misjudgement.
The more that we can acknowledge people communicate differently, we can perhaps expand our concept of what is normal and apply less judgement in situations where someone communicates differently to others, as for people who stammer, it’s just how we talk.
Support needs covered in this piece
- Do not finish my sentences for me.
- Do not make assumptions about me based on the way I communicate.
What We Need 