Health care reception staff in health centres run by Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust have been trained to help support people who have a stammer who visit the health centre for appointments.
Over 70 reception staff have been trained as they are often the first to greet patients when they enter the health centre and this first conversation can be a challenge for someone who stammers.
The training was delivered by the speech and language therapy team at the Stammering Support Centre and adults who stammer. It aims to support frontline staff by raising their awareness and understanding of stammering whilst dispelling common misconceptions around the cause of stammering. It included real life experiences of people who stammer and provided simple tips and suggestions for reception staff.
The team at the Stammering Support Centre are currently rolling out this training to NHS Speech and Language staff and volunteers from across Yorkshire and the Humber to implement similar training at their organisations.
The term 'stammering' covers a wide range of behaviours. A person may repeat, prolong or get blocked on a certain sound, syllable, word or phrase. Speech may also be interrupted with silent blocks, where no sound is made at all. Negative thoughts and feelings associated with stammering can sometimes result in a person avoiding difficult words or challenging speaking situations and can have a real impact on a person’s self esteem.
Some of the tips from the training event were:
- Be patient as most people who have a stammer prefer to speak for themselves and find it frustrating when others try to finish words or sentences
- Try not to give advice such as “slow down” or “take a breath” although it can be helpful to reassure them that there is no rush
- Make eye contact to show you are listening
- Convey a relaxed and accepting attitude
- Avoid asking the speaker to repeat something they have struggled to say
- Everyone is an individual, some may be uncomfortable talking about their speech issues while others may welcome your respectful interest.
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