Just like Gareth, Marilyn and Winston, I used to stammer (From Worcester News)

Just like Gareth, Marilyn and Winston, I used to stammer

3:36pm Wednesday 24th February 2010 in

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A TEENAGER with a bad stammer never dreamed he would one day be able to read a bedtime story to his son or get through a job interview without falling apart.

It is hard to believe the smartly dressed, confident and articulate man in front of me is the same person who used to stumble over almost every word and would carry cue cards to avoid the humiliation of speaking altogether.

But as 29-year-old Richard Whincup says, the best praise for someone with a stammer is to ask them, ‘What stammer?’ During the interview, I stammered more than Richard and I don’t have a stammer, which is a measure of how much he has been able to tame the beast.

Richard, of Walton Cardiff, Tewkesbury, is now in a job he loves, working in Worcester as a physical activity manager for Sports Partnership Herefordshire and Worcestershire, married with a three-year-old son, Tom. His wife Victoria is now expecting their second child.

It is a life that Richard, who stammered from the moment he first spoke, did not imagine in his wildest dreams would ever be possible. How did he turn his life around? He says he owes it all to the McGuire Programme, which delivers practical, intensive training to promote recovery from stuttering and was devised by Dave McGuire, who was himself plagued by a stutter.

Richard first began to encounter difficulties when he left home to go to university. Suddenly the protective shell of family and friends was gone. Leaving home is a big step for anyone but when you have a stammer everyday problems are magnified many times over.

Richard said: “Some stammerers have certain feared words or sounds or situations. My stammer was so chronic, it didn’t matter what situation I was in or what word – I was most likely going to stammer quite severely.

“There are obvious examples that spring to mind like in the post office queue, holding it up because I couldn’t get my words out or getting thrown off the bus because I couldn’t ask where I wanted to go. I would carry cue cards so that I didn’t have to speak and get weird looks and adverse reactions.

“When I went to study in West London aged 18 or 19 I found my support network wasn’t there any more. You haven’t got your mum to phone up for you or your dad to introduce you to people or your girlfriend to order the drinks or food. I had to fend for myself.

“That’s when I became really bad. That’s when I felt I had to do something to sort out my speech. I couldn’t go through life the way I was. Job interviews would have been an absolute nightmare. I had one interview – more of an informal chat really – and the interviewer said ‘tell me about yourself’. I couldn’t say anything even though I am quite an outgoing person. I just wanted to be able to talk to people and tell jokes, to tell people stories but I was never able to.”

Ultimately it was his mum and dad, Shelley and Steve, who gave him the push he needed and at 19 he attended an open day in Bath, where he learned more about the McGuire Programme.

To begin with, Richard was very sceptical and had begun to lose faith that he would ever be able to control his stammer, but his partner Victoria, now his wife, encouraged him. “She said, ‘If you can come away saying one word in control, that’s a massive achievement which gives you some idea of how bad my stammer was. She is always there to give me a kick up the backside when I need one. Behind every recovering stammerer is a supportive husband or wife,” he said.

When he saw the transformation in other people he became determined to take part in the programme.

The programme itself involves using costal breathing, a type of diaphragmatic breathing which works by expanding the thorax and is used by opera singers. Richard also learned that some aspects of stammering were psychological.

He said: “Being afraid of stammering often makes it worse. I have to work hard to keep it under control. I shouldn’t stammer now but sometimes I do if I don’t think about what I’m saying.”

One of the challenges of the course was to go out and talk to 100 people, using a clicker to count how many people he had spoken to.

He has to ask them basic questions like what time it was, directions or for help in a shop.

Richard was accompanied by a coach at all times and he says the vast majority of people were nice when he spoke to them or explained about his stammer.

Richard is not sure what causes his stammer but his grandfather also had one and there are theories that it is genetic, others that it is caused by some form of emotional trauma. He still remembers his grandad saying to him: “Looks like you’ve got it cracked son.”

Richard’s young son also provides motivation for him to continue the breathing exercises to keep his stammer under control so he can read to him.

Now Richard has turned his attention to helping others with a stammer and has provided support to countless others.

He said: “People shouldn’t give up hope. If they haven’t tried the McGuire Programme, give it a go. There is light at the end of the tunnel. People were there for me 10 plus years back and it’s important that I am there for other people.”

Richard has been on live radio interviews and appeared on TV as part of a Channel 4 documentary called The Stuttering School, which aired earlier this month.

For information about courses, visit mcguireprogramme.com